Al Shabaab suspects ‘must be terrorists’, security court told

The advocate general responds to claims by the lawyer of three men accused of being members of Al Shabaab that the group is not officially recognised as a terrorist entity.

ABU DHABI // The advocate general yesterday responded to claims by the lawyer of three men accused of joining Al Shabaab that the group was not officially recognised as a terrorist entity.

A?H and A?A, both Sudanese, and M?M, a Somali, are accused of joining the group and raising funds for it. However, their lawyer, Nashwa Al Kubaisy, has argued that they were merely philanthropic businessmen and that, even had they joined Al Shabaab, there was no official Government text proscribing them from doing so.

The advocate general told the State Security Court that on April 4 – two days after Ms Al Kubaisy made her argument – the international press had carried reports of a bombing in Mogadishu which Al Shabaab took responsibility for.

He told the court that scores of people had died in the attack,therefore Al Shabaab must be considered a terrorist group.

He then asked the judge to continue his presentation in private and the judge closed the session to the public.

After the private hearing, lawyers said the case was adjourned until Monday, so that the defence could respond.

In a previous hearing, Ms Al Kubaisy told the State Security Court that evidence linking her clients to the group, sometimes described as an offshoot of Al Qaeda, was merely "bits and pieces from the internet", and that they had not committed any offence under UAE law.

Ms Al Kubaisy said they were merely philanthropic businessmen who sent medicine and medical supplies to several countries in Africa.

"The evidence in the file does not reach the standards of tangible evidence. It is bits and pieces from the internet – not everything published on the internet is true," she told the court.

"Even if they were members of a political party – the Somali president used to be a member of Al Shabaab – it is not a crime."

Ms Al Kubaisy said the prosecution needed to prove that the men's activities threatened the UAE, but instead all the it had shown the court was medical and ambulance bills that "show that the defendants are helping the people of Somalia".

A fourth man, M?A, also Sudanese, is accused of allowing A?H, his cousin, to stay at his home despite being aware that he was involved in terrorist activities.

His lawyer, Mohammed Al Khazraji, said that M?A had let his cousin stay at his home since 2004 – four years before he was accused of joining Al Shabaab.

"Sheltering a terrorist involves hiding him from the authorities. They were not hiding, they were always out in public and going shopping – there is no sheltering there," Mr Al Khazraji said.