Media in the UAE are reporting that thirty men have have been sentenced to prison on charges of establishing and running a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UAE. According to a report in The National:
Al-Islah UAE
January 21, 2014 Updated: January 22, 201 ABU DHABI // Thirty men have been jailed for establishing and running a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UAE.
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 GMBDW reported in Movember 2013 that UAE had launched a trial of 30 Emiratis and Egyptians charged with setting up an illegal branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The GMBDW reported in July 2013 that 65 suspects charged by the UAE authorities on similar charges of setting up an illegal branch of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood had received sentences of up to 15 years. A post from June 2013 reported that 30 Egyptians and Emiratis had been charged in connection with that case. In January 2013, the UAE announced that it would try 94 people on charges of trying to seize power in that country.
In October 2013, Egyptian journalist Abdel Latif el-Menawy published an article titled “From Refuge To Rebellion, The Gulf’s Muslim Brotherhood” that looks at the history of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf countries and its relationship to the Egyptian organization.
In April 2013, the Gulf News posted an article titled “Rise and fall of Muslim Brotherhood in UAE” that provides interesting detail about the operations of the Muslim Brotherhood in that country.
The New York Times reported in January 3013 on the continuing conflict between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Our predecessor publication extensively covered the ongoing developments concerning the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf countries.
