Eight men were sentenced to life in jail by the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal over their involvement in an arms trafficking network connected to the Sudanese civil war.
Rashid Omar Abdul Qadir Ali; Salah Abdullah Mohammed Mohammed Saleh, also known as Salah Gosh; Ahmed Abdullah, known as Abdullah Khalafallah; Ahmed Rabie Sayed Ahmed; Mohammed Fath Al Beik; Yasser Al Atta; Othman Al Zubair; and Maher Abdul Jalil were sentenced on Thursday, state news agency Wam reported.
They were sentenced after a network was discovered that included arms deals, commercial companies, bank transfers and cash payments connected to "the supply of weapons, ammunition and military equipment to the Sudanese army and the concealment of the true nature, sources and destinations of the funds".
The court also ordered the confiscation of the "seized ammunition, mobile phones and communications devices used in the crime, and the deportation of those convicted from the UAE after serving their sentences".
The court concluded that the arms deals were conducted for the benefit of one of the parties to the Sudanese conflict and were "liable to harm the UAE's relations with the international community and endanger its interests".
Ali, Saleh, Abdullah and Jalil also received sentences of three years in prison for money laundering, along with Othman Babiker, Khalid Yousuf Mukhtar and Ahmed Khalafallah Abdullah.
The court also ordered the confiscation of Dh1.5 million ($408,441) from the seized funds and the deportation of the convicted individuals after serving their sentences.
Several companies also received fines of Dh1 million for being involved in money laundering. The companies were Rashed Omar Brokerage Company; Portex Trade Limited; Apollara Electronics Trading Company; Yellow Sand Trading Company; Wardat Al Masarra Trading Company; and Sudamina – Free Zone. They also had their licences cancelled and the money obtained through the laundering scheme was confiscated.
Two other men, Mubarak Ali Al Sheikh and Musab Awad Al Karim Hassan, were acquitted of the charges against them.
The court said the defendants traded in weapons, ammunition and military equipment without a licence or authorisation. They were found to have brought ammunition into the UAE in preparation for it to be sent to Sudan, under the pretence that it was medical equipment and supplies.
Payment for the military equipment was made in the UAE through bank transfers, in addition to cash payments, Wam reported.
Ali was said to have played a central role by supplying weapons, ammunition and military equipment to the Sudanese armed forces, for which he was paid within the UAE, including about Dh8 million in cash from Jalil for one of the deals.
The court said Yasser Al Atta, assistant to the commander-in-chief of the Sudanese military, requested the purchase of the weapons and military equipment.
Othman Al Zubair, the army's financial official responsible for armament requirements, inspecting shipments and settling suppliers' payments, paid the money for the weapons, ammunition and military equipment and delivered them to Jalil, despite knowing the defendants were not authorised to trade weapons in the UAE.
Mukhtar, former director of Saleh's office at the Sudanese Intelligence Service, received the commission allocated to Salah Gosh from the deal, Wam reported.
Ahmed was found to have acted as an intermediary to enable Omar and his company to obtain approvals from Sudanese military leaders for the supply of weapons and military equipment.
He participated in meetings at Saleh's residence to follow up on the implementation of the first deal. In addition to this he was said to have informed Omar of the Armament Committee's decision concerning the second deal. The court concluded that his involvement was intended to secure a financial benefit.
The court also found that Al Beik, a former adviser to the Sudanese finance minister, connected Omar with others to ensure Omar's company was a supplier to the Sudanese army, despite the firm not being involved in the sale of arms. Al Beik received an additional fine of Dh146,000 as a result.
Details were also shared about Khalafallah's role in an arms deal and how his brother, Ahmed Khalafallah, received Dh1.85 million from one deal, despite neither of the brothers having a licence to trade in military equipment in the UAE.
The court said the convicted men participated in an integrated scheme for the illicit trafficking of weapons, ammunition and military equipment using forged documents, companies and bank accounts in the UAE.
