Investigators testify in Jabhat Al Nusra trial

UAE government investigators who searched the homes of defendants in the trial say they found computers, sim cards, and other electronics.

ABU DHABI // Four government investigators on Sunday appeared in court to discuss their findings about electronic devices belonging to 15 men with alleged links to terrorist groups in Syria.

The defendants deny accusations of having ties to Al Qaeda offshoots Jabhat Al Nusra and Ahrar Al Sham.

The investigators from State Security and Abu Dhabi Police spoke about what they found from their search of the homes of the accused.

Investigator S K said he and his team members had found a mobile phone, a laptop, several sim cards, external memory drives and mobile-phone memory cards in the Sharjah home of defendant A B, who is from the Comoros Islands. S K did not provide details about the contents of the devices.

Responding to Judge Mohammed Al Jarah Al Tenaiji’s question about who owned the devices, S K said they belonged to A B.

“I showed him [A B] exactly what we had found and taken as evidence, and I asked him to check what we wrote in the file, which he then signed,” said S K.

Another investigator, S S, said he had found compact discs, external flash drives, mobile phones and computers in Syrian M E’s flat in Sharjah, Syrian S M’s home in Ajman, and the flat of M B, who is also from the Comoros Islands.

M K, a fellow investigator, found 11 compact discs, a mobile phone, an Etisalat sim card, a Kuwaiti sim card and a gun in the home and car of Emirati defendant A B, 26, in Sharjah.

A A, an electronic-device investigator at Abu Dhabi Police, said he had been ordered to examine the electronic devices of S M and to produce a report about his findings.

A A said the devices contained pictures, video clips and conversations on several social-networking applications. He said he did not remember the details but that he had submitted his report to the court.

However, information from that report was not released in court on Sunday.

Judge Al Tenaiji asked A A for a detailed explanation of his investigation.

A A said that his work protocol compelled him to make a copy of the contents of the devices and then to use the copied information for his investigation.

“We don’t access the original device,” he said. “That prevents us from adding or deleting anything from the files.”

The investigators assured the judge that they had carried out their investigations in accordance with UAE laws.

At the end of the hearing, lawyer Ali Al Mannaei requested bail for his clients M E and A R, saying there was no clear evidence against them. The court adjourned the case to tomorrow when it will hear the testimony of another investigator.