3 jailed for joining terror groups

Three members of a terrorist cell accused of joining, training and fighting alongside Al Nusra Front terrorist organisation in Syria were convicted by the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeals on Wednesday.

The court handed the first defendant, A.H.M., an Emirati, five years in jail and a fine of Dh1 million. It also ordered the confiscation of equipment and devices found in his possession and the obliteration of the information, photos and documents found on the devices.

The second defendant, A.H.Y.J., an Arab citizen, was sentenced to three years in prison and deportation after serving his jail term.

The third defendant, H.S.M., also an Emirati, was given a one-year jail term for aiding the cell members and promoting ideologies of terrorist organisations and groups on social media platforms

The court also heard several other cases during which the prosecutor indicted a 29-year-old Emirati defendant identified as S.H.S.H. for taking part in fighting and training alongside the Ahrar Al Sham terrorist organisation in Syria.

The prosecution accused the defendant of committing felony and violating the Counter-Terrorism Law issued in 2004. The defendant denied all charges.

His attorney, Abdul Qader Al Haithami, demanded the acquittal of his client of all charges.

Al Haithami said his client travelled to Syria to join the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and not any terrorist group, pointing out that the FSA is not designated as a terrorist organisation and is considered a legitimate group.

He added that when his client travelled to Syria in 2014, Ahrar Al Sham was not designated as a terrorist group.

The court will issue a ruling in the case on February 8.

In another case, the public prosecution accused 25-year-old Pakistani national A.Z. of joining Al Qaida in Pakistan before coming to the UAE.

Another Pakistani national, A.W.K., 25, was accused of knowing about the first defendant [A.Z.] joining the terrorist organisation but failed to report the same to security authorities in the country.

The case was adjourned to March 1 to assign lawyers for the defendants.

In the third case, the public prosecution charged T.H.M.N., 44, an Arab national, with creating Facebook accounts that offended the UAE, its officials and foreign policy, as well as writing articles that insulted and degraded the UAE and state officials.

The defendant denied all charges against him, and requested the court to give him a chance to hire a lawyer to defend him.

The court decided to adjourn the case to February 1 on the defendant’s request to appoint an attorney.

In another case, attorney Ali Al Abadi pleaded for A.M., an Emirati accused of attempted murder of an American citizen, carrying out sabotage and terrorist acts inside the country, possessing explosives, as well as promoting ideologies of the Daesh terrorist organisation.

The attorney pleaded that his client is not guilty, saying that his client confessed under duress and coercion, and that the arrest warrant issued against him was invalid because it did not comply with the legal procedures.

He also requested the court to declare as invalid the testimony of a witness — a security officer of the State Security Prosecution — presented by the prosecution as proof.

The lawyer pointed out the contradictions in the witness’ testimony of proof, and demanded dropping of all charges against his client.

The court will issue a verdict in the case on February 22.

In a fifth case, the court listened to lawyer Ali Al Abadi’s plea for two sisters — A.A., 39 and A.A. 43 — who are accused of joining Daesh, transferring money to members of the organisation and creating online accounts that promoted Daesh’s terrorist ideologies.

The lawyer demanded the court to clear his clients of all charges because of the lack of sufficient evidence that incriminated them, and also claimed that his defendants confessed under coercion.

The lawyer also said that there was no apparent evidence or proof that his defendants wired money to members of Daesh. They had transferred money to the poor and needy Syrian refugees, who were afflicted by the ongoing conflict in Syria.

The court is due to issue a verdict in this case on February 15.

The court also looked into several other state security cases and adjourned them to later dates in February and March, based on the attorneys’ requests

source : gulfnews