Thirteen people were sentenced to jail on terrorism and spying charges, including joining ISIL, by Abu Dhabi Federal Appeal Court on Tuesday.
Four defendants, of Arab origin, were sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined Dh1 million each for promoting a terrorist organisation by distributing extremist content. They will be deported from the country upon completing their sentence. Two of the four were fined an additional Dh6,000 for possessing ammunition without a license.
In a separate case, a GCC national was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined Dh1m for posting information on Twitter that could harm the countries reputation, according to state news agency Wam. The defendant will be placed under strict supervision for three years after serving his prison term.
Another Gulf national also received his sentence on Tuesday and will serve 10 years in prison and pay Dh100,000 for sharing intelligence with a foreign country. He will be closely surveyed for three years upon his release.
The court also sentenced a man, from the GCC, to seven years in jail for sharing intelligence and photographing oil establishments.
In another case, two of three men who joined terrorist organisations ISIL and Al Nusra Front were sentenced to seven years in prison. The third man was sentenced to 18 months in jail and all of them will be deported upon the serving their prison terms.
The sixth case saw two Arab men, one from the Gulf, sentenced to 10 years in jail followed by deportation for supplying a foreign country’s embassy with military information that might damage the UAE’s military stature.
