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30 Muslim Brotherhood suspects go on trial today

The charges include the publishing and broadcast of banned documents, photographs and maps from a government department.

As many as 30 persons, including a number of Egyptians, will go on trial at the State Security Circuit of the Supreme Federal Court in Abu Dhabi today, on the charges of setting up and running a branch of the demonised international ‘Muslim Brotherhood Organisation’ without obtaining a permit from the competent authorities in the GCC state (UAE).

Advocate General of the UAE’s State Security Public Prosecution, Rashid Ahmed Al Dhanhani, said the accused, made up of both Emiratis and Egyptians, had been referred to the Supreme Federal Court after interrogations made by the Public Prosecution in the case No 13 of 2013 – Penal State Security when information came out that some of them had established and run an offshoot of the organisation of an international capacity without a permit.

Al Dhanhani was quoted by Wam as saying: “To steer the works of that branch and achieve its purpose, they (the accused) had allegedly formed an administrative structure including, a building, with the intent to attract new members, and maintain its entity and members inside the UAE.”

And, he noted, to achieve the continued loyalty to the main organisation, and to support it financially, they had raised funds, donations and Zakat as well as a subscription without having a licence from the competent body in the country.

He said the original 94 accused, who were referred to stand trial, had received financial support from the secret organisation, which planned to topple and take over the rule in the UAE. Out of the 94 accused, 69 of them have been convicted.

“To maintain their association and link between the branch and the key organisation, they had formed, as part of the structure of the branch, a media committee tasked with collecting news, specifically about the country of the main organisation, print and distribute these news to subcommittees they had set up among themselves, to educate the organisation members’ families and supply them with news”, he explained.

The charges include the publishing and broadcast of banned documents, photographs and maps from a government department.

The accused obtained the information after stealing a flash memory belonging to the government department. The flash memory contained information about the secret organisation.