ABU DHABI // Hizbollah agents blackmailed their victims into handing over classified information, the Federal Supreme Court heard on Monday.
Seven defendants, including a state security officer, are on trial for providing information to the militant group.
A witness told the court how the defendants were recruited by Hizbollah, the Lebanese Shia militant organisation that the UAE has declared a terrorist group.
“Photos of some of the defendants in sexually compromised situations were used to extort them and put pressure on them to work with the organisation,” said the witness.
The witness said that one of the accused, an Emirati, married an Egyptian who worked for an oil company to obtain information from her.
“He married her as a ploy to obtain sensitive information from her workplace to hand over to the organisation,” the witness said.
The Egyptian woman he married was also on trial. The 54-year-old, who worked as a geologist, gave her husband unpublished information about the UAE’s energy sector, the court heard.
The witness also said that Hizbollah paid about Dh7 million to one of the defendants. Others received gifts such as mobile phones and tablet computers.
The defendants also travelled to Lebanon on several occasions to meet members of Hizbollah, the witness said.
The case was adjourned to May 23.
nalremeithi@thenational.ae
