UAE State Security Court confirms life sentence for man convicted of terrorist acts

The court rejected an appeal by the 30-year-old and upheld the ruling by the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeal Court to sentence him to life behind bars.

ABU DHABI // An Emirati sentenced to life in jail for planning a terrorist attack must see out his prison term, the State Security Court of the Federal Supreme Court ruled.

The court rejected an appeal by the man, 30, and upheld the ruling by the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeal Court to sentence him to life behind bars.

The man was convicted of attempted murder with the intent of committing a terrorist act and trying to join the terrorist group Al Nusra Front in Syria.

He was also convicted of planning to commit terrorist crimes and trying to destroy sensitive areas using explosives and live ammunition.

The court also convicted him of opening accounts on Twitter and Facebook to promote the ideas of Al Qaeda and ISIL.

In another case, the State Security Court upheld a not-guilty sentence handed to a 37-year-old who holds a Comoros Islands passport, and two Emiratis, aged 24 and 25, who were accused of joining the Al Nusra Front in Syria.

They had also been accused of possessing an unlicensed weapon and spreading information on WhatsApp, aimed at promoting ISIL ideology.

The State Security Court rejected an appeal from prosecutors after the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeal Court decision on their innocence.

The court will announce its ruling on June 5 in an appeal by an Emirati woman, 25, who was sentenced to five years in jail for attempting to join ISIL, communicating with elements working for the organisation through social media, providing money to the organisation and establishing accounts on social media to promote the ideas of the terrorist organisation.

The woman appealed against the sentence and demanded the court transfer her from Al Wathba Prison to another institution because of psychological and health conditions