UAE man accused of communicating with a foreign country Iran sees charges amended

A judge amended the accusations after hearing witness testimony.

ABU DHABI // A judge amended accusations against a defendant accused of communicating with a foreign country after hearing witness testimony a second time at the Federal Supreme Court on Monday.

Judge Falah Al Hajeri decided to amend the charges against A B, who was previously accused of communicating with a foreign country and providing undercover agents with confidential information about government employees.

“The court has decided to modify the legal description of the case and to change the charges against the defendant to ‘the accused shared news concerning a government agency that is considered to be confidential information with agents working for a foreign country’.”

The witness was first asked to state a law that proved A B had committed a crime.

The witness, who the court has determined cannot be identified, said the country’s human resources laws for the military stated any employee cannot spread any technical, systematic or practical information from any department in which he works, or from any other entity before acquiring a written consent form.

“Information could be in the form of letters, maps, images, specifications, diagrams, licences or any other roles from within the entity. The defendant cannot disclose any confidential information, and throughout the investigations he said he had taken an oral oath as well as signed a non-disclosure contract as soon as he was employed,” he said.

He said all military employees were obliged to sign a confidentiality agreement.

A B objected to the testimony and denied signing the contract. He said he took only an “oral loyalty oath”, with no mention of a confidentiality agreement.

Ali Al Mannaei and Aref Al Shamsi, attorneys for the defendant, requested specific statements from the witness that prove A B had committed a crime.

Mr Al Mannaei argued that the defendant had given information only on sports events and activities that he was in charge of, claiming they were always mentioned in the media. Mr Al Shamsi requested hard evidence, such as a phone recording, that could be used against the defendant.

However, Judge Al Hajeri said their arguments were unnecessary and they could use them when they presented their case for the defence.

The case was adjourned to March 16.