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Three jailed for joining Daesh by Abu Dhabi Court

Abu Dhabi - The court also sentenced S.S.M., an Arab national, to three years in jail on similar charges.

An Abu Dhabi court has sentenced three men to varying jail terms for joining the Daesh terror group. At a hearing on Wednesday, the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeal court found A.H.A.B, who hails from Comoros Island, guilty of joining the terrorist outfit and sentenced him to three years in jail to be followed by deportation.
The court also found him guilty of setting up and running websites on a social media network to promote terror ideologies of the group. He was also fined Dh1,000 for possessing dangerous firecrackers without procuring an official permit.
The court also sentenced S.S.M., an Arab national, to three years in jail on similar charges.
In the same case, K.A.H.T., a 22-year old Emirati, was jailed for one year for attempting to join the terror outfit. While pronouncing the verdict, the court noted the defendant's resentment and the fact that he himself had surrendered to the authorities.
Terror website
In other cases, the court heard the indictment sheet read out by the head of the State Security public prosecution against A.M.R.M, a 47-year old Emirati who had allegedly established and run a website to post and publish erroneous information promoting the Daesh terror outfit.
According to state security prosecutor, the defendant had also posted false statements with the intent of defaming the UAE and damaging Emirati relations with a neighbouring Gulf country.
The state security prosecution also charged him with publishing lies on the foreign policy of a brotherly GCC country regarding incidents in Yemen, Syria and Iraq, with the intent of affronting and tarnishing the reputation of that GCC state.
The defendant was also accused of taking advantage of his personal account on WhatsApp to promote the terror outfits, which he described as Jihadist groups.
"He tried, through video clips and articles, to propagate the thoughts and ideologies of Daesh terror group," the state security prosecutor told the court.
The defendant denied all the charges leveled against him, and the court will pronounce the verdict on February 22 .
'Charge is false' says attorney
In another case, defence attorney Abdul Qadir Al Haithami said his client - H.H.B, the main defendant in a three-member terror cell comprising Emiratis, being accused of joining Al Nusra Front organisation in Syria - argued the charge is false and that when his client had joined Al Nusra Front in 2014, the organisation was not dubbed as a terrorist organisation.
"Therefore, he said, the defendant did not commit any legal violation for he had joined a legitimate group at that time," Al Haithami said. "My client had quit Al Nusra Front before UAE had termed it as a terrorist group."
In the same case, defence lawyer Ali Al Abadi defended the other two defendants of the alleged terror cell, who are identified as Kh H M and Y A S and requested the court to clear them from the charges pressed against them.
In his argument, Al Abadi said his two clients had not joined any terror organisation, as the Al Nusra Front had not been categorised as a terror organisation, and the pair did not commit any violation when they traveled to a neighbouring Gulf state when they were arrested.
"None of them had any intention to either travel to Turkey or Syria," he said, asking the court to let them walk free.
The court ordered that the case held for hearing on February 22 to pronounce judgement.
malzarooni@khaleejtimes.com
Journalist in dock
The court adjourned the case of an Arab journalist T.H.M.N. aged 44, who the state security prosecution charged with setting up a website to insult the UAE, its leadership and foreign policy, as well as posting lies about the UAE, until February 25 and requested that the defence lawyer study the files of the case and investigations.
Five other cases were also postponed to February 15 as the prosecution had called the court bench to refer the defendants to a counselling centre.
malzarooni@khaleejtimes.com