ABU DHABI // Thirty men have been jailed for establishing and running a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UAE.
Twenty of the men are Egyptian and 10 are Emirati, with the Emiratis convicted of sedition last July.
The group was sentenced on Tuesday at the Federal Supreme Court to prison terms ranging from three months to five years, depending on the charges.
The court ordered the closure of all branches of the Brotherhood in the country the group had been running and all funds and properties related to the group to be seized.
Before delivering the verdict, Judge Mohammed Al Jarrah Al Tenaiji said the court had been fair and transparent.
“Since the court has adopted this case it was keen to establish values of justice and to be guided by the provisions of Islamic Sharia laws. The principles of the judiciary system gave full transparency to the accused by agreeing to their requests and listening in accordance to legal procedures given by the constitution,” he said.
The main defendant, M A, 42, an Egyptian, who embezzled classified Government files and shared the contents with other members of the Muslim Brotherhood branch, was jailed for five years.
These files were stored on a memory drive, which was given to him by mistake by a First Warrant Officer in the Supreme Council for National Security, who was also a board member on the same sports club.
The officer had asked M A to copy pictures of the club’s activities in April 2012.
However, the drive also held confidential details of people connected to the Muslim Brotherhood and PowerPoint presentations about it.
Seven other Egyptians and one Emirati were sentenced to four years for broadcasting the contents of the memory drive to other members of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UAE and Egypt and knowing of the embezzlement without reporting it to the authorities.
One Egyptian and eight Emiratis were jailed for a year for not reporting the embezzlement.
The court had heard how the members had decided at a secret meeting to provide the confidential contents to members of Al Islah, another group linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.
All the Egyptians were given an extra six months for establishing and administering a branch of the Brotherhood.
Five of the Emiratis were also sentenced to an extra three months for knowing about the establishment of a secret Brotherhood branch and not reporting it to authorities.
The men had confessed to sending money back to the parent group in Egypt after Hosni Mubarak was deposed as president of Egypt in January 2011.
The cell members planned to send US$7 million (Dh25.7m) to Egypt, but in the end sent only $2m.
All the Egyptians and one of the Emiratis were fined Dh3,000 for collecting financial aid for the Muslim Brotherhood branch without approval from the Government.
The defence lawyers and eight Emiratis failed to attend the hearing on Tuesday in protest against not receiving the case files in time, they said.
One of the Egyptians, A L, said on Tuesday that he will not forgive anyone, especially members of the media.
“I will not have mercy on those who held their pens against me, I will seek vengeance,” he said.
One of the Emiratis claimed he had never met the Egyptians and did not know of the memory drive leading to this case until he was interrogated.
“We accept the verdict. I personally forgive everyone that has harmed me,” the Emirati said.
They all denied the charges in court.
A spokesman for the Emirates Human Rights Association, which followed the trials, said that “we believe that these trials were transparent, clear and public”.
He added: “The accused have throughout the trials defended themselves individually and have been defended by lawyers either appointed by them or by their close ones.
“The court and its judicial members open-mindedly listened to the accused and their defence.
“Since there is no power over the judges who ruled some were innocent and indicted others, the Emirates Human Rights Association is convinced that the judges’ rationality and commitment to justice took priority in the case.”
Local media, delegates from the Egyptian embassy, human rights representatives and lawyer’s association members, along with 11 family members attended the hearing.
All the Egyptians will be deported after serving their jail terms.
aalkhoori@thenational.ae
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Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The specs
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- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
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Fight card
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Lightweight
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Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.
Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."
Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.
In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love".
There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.
While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
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Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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THE%20SPECS
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