The United Arab Emirates (UAE) jailed seven men on Monday for alleged involvement with Al-Qaeda and its splinter group, Al-Nusra Front, AFP reported. The men were also arrested in 2013 when UAE authorities believed them to be planning attacks inside the Gulf nation.
WAM, a state-run UAE news agency, said the defendants were nationals of other Arab countries. Two other suspects on trial in the same case were acquitted by Abu Dhabi’s Federal Supreme Court.
All nine suspects were tried for aiding Al-Nusra Front, an Al-Qaeda affiliate operating in Syria against the government of Bashar al-Assad, reported AFP. Some of the other defendants faced charges such as forming a UAE Al-Qaeda cell and creating websites espousing extremist ideology.
According to AFP, one suspect was sentenced to life in prison, while the others faced seven years and deportation. The life sentence was given in absentia, with the defendant absent from the trial, WAM and local media reported.
