Verdict: Justice is done

Four months and 13 sessions later, the Federal Supreme Court sentenced 69 Emiratis to jail for seven to 15 years on charges of plotting to overthrow the government.

The court sentenced 56 of the 94 defendants to 10 years in prison each.

Five defendants were jailed for seven years each while eight tried in absentia were sentenced to 15 years each.

A total of 25 people were acquitted including all 13 women arrested in the crackdown and who had been on bail since the start of the trial on March 4.

Prosecutors said the accused were linked to Al Islah group, which has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Their trial was the largest in the history of the UAE. The defendants, among them lawyers, university professors and students, were arrested between March and December 2012 for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government.

In February, UAE Attorney-General Salem Kobaish said the defendants were being tried for “having created and led a movement aimed at opposing the basic foundations on which the state’s political system is built and at seizing power”.

The group had formed a “secret organisation” which was in contact with individuals and organisations “abroad”, including the Brotherhood, and had also created or invested in real estate firms to finance their organisation, he said.

The verdict cannot be appealed.

On June 19, UAE authorities announced they were charging another group, comprising 30 Egyptians and Emiratis, with setting up an illegal branch of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, in a case linked to that of the 94 tried in this case.

All are equal before the law

Article 25 of the UAE Constitution states categorically that: “All persons are equal before the law, without distinction between citizens of the Federation in regard to race, nationality, religious belief and social status.”

The right to a fair trial is guaranteed by Article 94 of the UAE Constitution.

As required by UAE law, each defendant has the right to their own legal representation. In cases where a defendant cannot afford a lawyer, the court will provide one.

Articles 1 to 8 of Law No. 3 of May 26, 1993 guarantee the independence of judges.

Definition of the UAE Penal Code Article 180

Article 180 relates to the acts of “establishing, instituting, founding, organising, administering or joining an association, corporation, organisation or any branch thereof, with the aim of overthrowing the regime of the State, or publicising it where the use of force is noticeable”.

It also relates to the acts of “receiving or obtaining funds of any kind from a person or body abroad, whether directly or through an intermediary, if the purpose of this is to publicise any of the things provided for in this Article”. (Source: Ministry of Justice)

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Convicts and their jail terms

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15 years

Mohammed Saqr Yousef Al Zaabi

Abdul Rehman Khalifa Salim bin Subaih

Saeed Nasser Saeed Nasser Al Tenaiji

Mohammed Jassem Mohammed Darwish Al Nuaimi

Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed Al Shaiba

Hamad Mohammed Rahma Obeid Al Shamsi

Khalaf Abdul Rehman Al Rumaithi

Jassim Rashid Al Shamsi

10 years plus three-year probation

1. Sultan Kayed Mohammed Al Qassimi

2. Mohammed Ali Saleh Al Mansour Al Mansouri

3. Rashid Omran Ali Obaid Al Shamsi

4. Hussain Ali Abdullah Al Najjar Al Hammadi

5. Hassan Mohammed Hassan Ahmed Al Hammadi

6. Ahmed Ghaith Ahmad Ghaith Al Suwaidi

7. Ali Hussain Ahmed Ali Al Hammadi

8. Ali Saeed Mohammed Hassan Al Kindi

9. Khaled Mohammed Abdullah Al Shaiba Al Nuaimi

10. Saif Mohammed Ali Al Ajla Al Ali

11. Abdul Salam Mohammed Dawrish Al Ali

12. Hamad Hassan Ali Ruqait

13. Mohammed Abdul Razzaq Mohammed Al Siddiq Al Obaidali

14. Hadef Rashid Abdullah Al Owais

15. Abdullah Naseeb Karama Al Jaberi

16. Fuad Mohammed Abdullah Hassan Al Hammadi

17. Hussain Munef Al Jaberi

18. Ahmed Saif Kalf Saleh Al Matri

19. Mohammad Abdullah Al Roken

20. Abdul Rahim Mohammad Abdul Rahman Al Zarouni

21. Issa Khalifa Ahmed Saif Al Suwaidi

22. Juma Saeed Juma Bin Darwish Al Falasi

23. Misbah Darwish Juma Kadas Al Rumaithi

24. Shaheen Abdullah Mall’allah Al Hosani

25. Saif Mohammad Saif Mohammad Al Attar Al Dhanhani

26. Ahmed Yusuf Abdullah Buatabi Al Za’abi

27. Khalifa Hilal Khalifa Hilal

28. Khalid Fazal Ahmed Jasim

29. Salim Ali Salman Hamdoon Al Shihhi

30. Saleh Mohammad Saleh Al Zafeer

31. Salim Abdullah Rashid Sahoo Al Suwaidi

32. Khalid Mohammad Yusuf Salim Rashid Al Yammahi

33. Ahmed Rashid Ibrahim Al Taboor Al Nuaimi

34. Saeed Nasir Saeed Usman Al Wahidi

35. Ali Abdullah Mahdi Saleh

36. Abdul Aziz Ali Saeed Harib

37. Ibrahim Ismael Ibrahim Al Yaqoot

38. Ahmed Saqr Mohammad Obaid Al Suwaidi

39. Tariq Hassan Abdullah Al Qattan Al Harmodi

40. Rashid Khalfan Obaid Sabt Al Ali

41. Tariq Ibrahim Abdul Rahim Al Qasim

42. Abdul Rahman Ahmed Mohammad Al Hadidi Al Ali

43. Eisa Ma’adad Abdullah Al Seri Al Muhairi

44. Salim Mosa Farhan Al Halyan

45. Ali Salim Mohammad Al Ghawas Al Za’abi

46. Ali Abdullah Fath Ali Al Khaja

47. Ahmed Hajji Sakher Al Qubaisi

48. Ahmed Hassan Mohammad Al Rustamani

49. Ahmed Kuned Al Muhairi

50. Ismail Abdullah Mallallah Al Hosani

51. Abdul Rahem Abdullah Abdul Kareem Naqi Al Bastaki

52. Mohammed Saeed Mohammed Thiyab Al Abdouli

53. Ibrahim Hasan Ali Al Marzouqi

54. Hasan Munif Al Jaberi

55. Najeeb Ahmad Abdullah Ahmad Amiri

56. Ali Mohammed Bin Hajr Al Shehhi

Seven-year imprisonment

Omran Ali Hasan Al Radhwan Al Harthi

Mahmoud Hasan Mahmoud Ahmad Al Hosani

Abdullah Abdul Qader Ahmad Ali Al Hajiri

Mansour Hasan Ahmed Al Ahmadi

Fahd Abdul Qader Ahmed Ali Al Hajiri

Found not guilty

Khamis Saeed Ali Saeed Alsam Al Zeioudi

Ahmed Awad Yaslam Salem Al Sharqi

Amina Sultan Abdullah Al Nuaimi

Mariam Mohamed Saleh Mohammed Al Zaferi

Hoda Khalfan Bin Kamel Al Nuaimi

Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed Rashed Abdan Al Naqbi

Jamal Awad Yaslam Salem Al Sharqi

Adnan Abul Karim Mohamed Jalfar

Ali Humaid Ali Rashed Al Nuaimi

Badr Abdul Rahman Abdullah Hussein Al Hammadi

Fatima Obaid Al Salaqi, Wife of Ibrahim Ismail Al Yaqout

Majida Fares Abdul Razeq Al Fares Al Shammari

Hessa Mohammed Saleh Mohammed Al Zafir

Fatima Hassan Mohammed Al Za’abi

Najiba Mohammed Hassan Al Hosani

Naeema Mohammed Yehia Abdullah

Jamila Salem Obaid Al Tarifi Al Shamsi

Hadya Mohammed Abdul Aziz Al Sayed

Naeema Ali Hassan Abdullah Al Marzouqi

Rashid Mohammed Abdullah Al Roken

Tawfiq Youssef Al Shaikh Abdullah Al Mubarak

Adel Ahmed Abdul Kareem Al Zarouni

Mohammed Abdullah Al Sha’mi

Ahmed Mohammed Saleh Abdullah Al Hammadi

Najeeba Abdullah Ahmed Youssef Al Hashemi

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Assets to be confiscated

The court ordered the confiscation of the following properties/assets:

• Dh290,000 seized from the home of Salem Abdullah Rashid Sahoo Al Suwaidi
• Dh100,000 seized from the Tebah Pilgrimage and Umrah company in Sharjah of Eisa Ma’adad Al Sarri Al Muhairi
• 20% of the capital of Al Salam English Private School in Abu Dhabi
• Dh1.1 million of the equity of Manazal Construction Company
• Al Khatem Farm, North, No. 97, owned by Ahmed Mohammed Mohammed Kaneed Al Muhairi
• Residential and Commercial Building No. 1875 in Muwaileh area of Sharjah, Plot No. 1443
• Commercial Building No 2206 in Muwaileh area of Sharjah, Plot No. 8048.
• Dh1 million owned by Ahmed Hassan Mohammed Al Rustumani

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Centres ordered to be closed

• Al Aqel Al Zaki Centre
• Al Usrah Al Saeeda Centre.
• Manarat Educational Consultancy MEC in Ajman.

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Websites to be shut down

• Emirates Media ‘&’ Studies Center (EMASC)
• The Seven Emiratis website
• watanserb.com (Watan Yugharedo Khareja Al Serb)
• aleslaah.net (Da’wat Al Eslah)
• yanabeea.net (Yanabe’a Tarbawiya or educational springs)

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