Abu Dhabi Federal Appeals Court adjourns hearing in case of terrorist ‘Justice and Dignity Committee Organisation’ to March 7

The State Security Chamber of the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeals Court has decided to adjourn the hearing into Case No 87 of 2023- State Security Offences, involving the terrorist “Justice and Dignity Committee Organisation” to the session of 7th March, to hear pleadings from the counsels representing 84 defendants, including accused individuals and entities.
The case concerns members of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood Organisation committing crimes related to establishing and managing a terrorist organisation, as well as money laundering proceeds from forming a clandestine terrorist organisation.
The Public Prosecution had concluded their pleas, which extended over two separate sessions, during which they confirmed that this case is completely different from case number 79 of 2012 State Security Offences, and is not a retrial of the defendants according to the evidence presented in the public session, which included confessions and statements of the defendants.
The confessions were consistent with the investigations of the State Security Apparatus, and the testimonies and reports of the experts who were assigned to monitor and analyse the activities of the defendants.
The Public Prosecution demanded the maximum statutory sentence on the defendants, based on Article 88 of the Penal Code, which states that if crimes were committed for a single purpose and were inextricably linked, they must be considered a single crime and the punishment prescribed for the most serious of those crimes must be imposed.
Article 90 of the Penal Code also states that if the perpetrator in the case provided for in Article 88 of this law has been convicted of a crime punishable by a lesser penalty, he must then be tried for the crime that is punishable by the maximum penalty. In this case, the court shall order the execution of the punishment imposed in the latter judgment, after deducting what was actually executed from the previous judgment.
Terrorist “Justice and Dignity Committee Organisation”
The Public Prosecution’s pleadings extended over two separate sessions. In the first session, which lasted for about 5 hours and was attended by the defendants’ counsels, their families, and media representatives, the prosecution presented their evidence against the defendants on charges of establishing and managing a clandestine terrorist organisation in the UAE (The Justice and Dignity Committee), for the purpose of committing terrorist acts and collecting and laundering money to serve the organisation.
The prosecution presented evidence against the defendants, including confessions of one of the defendants that the organisation studied the events that coincided with the so-called “Arab Spring Revolutions” in order to create a similar revolutionary model in the UAE.
The defendant also confessed that the first and second defendants proposed the establishment of the terrorist “Justice and Dignity Committee” organisation as a clandestine organisation separate from the “Reform Call” terrorist organisation, with the intent to instigate a violent revolution that would involve clashes with security personnel, resulting in deaths and the disruption of essential state functions.
The defendant also confessed that the method of the aforementioned terrorist organisation relied on cultivating widespread anger and resentment within society, seeking to manipulate these emotions into mass street protests that would inevitably turn violent through confrontations with security forces, potentially leading to casualties and injuries.
The organisation would then exploit this as fuel to increase resentment and promote it in the media, both domestically and internationally, in order to obtain support from external organisations. The defendant also confessed that the organisation established teams and identified their tasks and members.
The defendant also confessed that the organisation planned to stage a public demonstration in a well-known square in the country.
The defendant concluded his confessions by stating that the meeting of the organisation’s members in the second defendant’s house clearly demonstrates the true nature of the terrorist organisation, its purpose, and its method of inciting chaos, even if it leads to bloodshed and loss of life.
Organisational Structure and Five Teams
The Public Prosecution presented to the audience the organisational structure of the terrorist Justice and Dignity Committee Organisation, which was headed by the second defendant. The organisation consisted of five teams:
• The Electronic Team: This team was responsible for spreading news on the internet and social media platforms that would incite public opinion.
• The Legal Team: This team was responsible for communicating with local, regional, and international legal organisations.
• The National Team: This team was responsible for mobilising notables and intellectuals in the country against what they called “violations by the security services.”
• The Media Team: This team was responsible for creating accounts on social media platforms, publishing tweets and news, and carrying out media campaigns. The team also trained the organisation’s youth on how to incite public opinion on the internet and try to prepare people’s minds for the idea of a “revolution.”
• The External Action Team: This team was responsible for facilitating the escape of the organisation’s members from the country, coordinating with the other Muslim Brotherhood organisations in the Gulf to support the fugitives, and working to organise media campaigns against the State’s institutions from abroad.