Latest: State Security Court sentences members of 'Bahloul Gang' to prison terms and fines
More than 100 alleged members of a criminal network known as “the Bahloul gang” are to go on trial at an Abu Dhabi Court, accused of threatening the state's security and public order.
Attorney General Dr Hamad Saif Al Shamsi ordered the trial at Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal, also known as the State Security Court, following a seven-month-long investigation by the Public Prosecution department.
The probe is alleged to have revealed the involvement of “over 100 defendants in forming, managing and joining the Bahloul gang”, state news agency Wam reported on Friday.
They are accused of using social media and “prohibited tools and weapons” to intimidate victims to extort money.
The gang has also been accused of money laundering “to conceal the illicit origins of their criminal proceeds” and “distributing the funds among themselves by exerting power and influence in the areas where they operate”, according to prosecutors.
Dr Al Shamsi said “the Public Prosecution will enforce the law decisively against anyone who commits criminal acts or harms and terrorises people in the country”.
All citizens and residents have been urged to immediately report any criminal activity, so that law enforcement officials can take swift action.
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'Young girls thinking of big ideas'
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
