Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Federal Appeal Court sentenced a 29-year-old Emirati man to life in prison for having links with Daesh and joining the terrorist group’s training camps in Syria.
The court also sentenced a 43-year-old Emirati woman to 10 years in prison for joining Daesh, pledging allegiance to its leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi and posting information that promotes terrorist ideologies on social media. It also ordered the seizure of all equipment and devices belonging to the accused.
The main accused’s 39-year-old sister was cleared of all charges.
In another case, the court also ordered that three Emirati men receive counselling at centres run by the Ministry of Interior. They were also ordered to be placed under surveillance and banned from travelling for six months.
In a third case, the court heard the prosecution’s list of charges against a 51-year-old Emirati accused of calling Sharjah Police Operations Room and using offensive language against them, UAE leaders and state officials.
The defendant denied the charges and the court adjourned the case for a verdict on March 1.
In the fourth case, the court heard the arguments of defence lawyer Ali Al Abadi representing a Jordanian man accused of posting information on social media that insulted the UAE, its officials and foreign policy.
Defence arguments
Al Abadi argued that his client posted the information when he was in another Arab country, and therefore the court did not have the authority to look into the case.
He added that his client was not in the UAE in 2012, and that the incident occurred before the cyber crime law was issued.
Al Abadi pointed out that his client came to the country looking for a job and stressed that he is loyal to the UAE.He sought his client’s acquittal. The court adjourned the case to March 15 for a ruling.
