UAE court sentences man convicted of promoting terror groups to five years

ABU DHABI: The State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) awarded a five-year prison term to a man for trying to damage the reputation of the emirates and promoting terrorist groups including Daesh, according to the UAE official news agency WAM.

The convict, who is a 21-year-old citizen of Comoros Islands, was also slapped with a fine worth Rs38 million. Many people, who speak Arabic and residents of the UAE since many years, have Comoros Islands’ passport.

The convict was found guilty of joining the terrorist organisation, Daesh, and pledging allegiance to its leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi through his Twitter account.

According to the WAM, the court ordered the confiscation of all devices used to commit the crimes, as well as the wiping of all the conict’s data. All the social media accounts associated with the defendant will also be closed.

He had also been urging young individuals to join terrorist groups, according to the court. The convict was also convicted of publishing media articles detailing false information detrimental to the UAE and its community.

The court also convicted the accused of using his Twitter account to disseminate detrimental information and articles promoting Al Qaeda and Daesh.