The State Security Department of the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal decided to postpone consideration of Case No. 87 of 2023 State Security Penalty, related to the “Justice and Dignity Terrorist Organization,” until the next March 7 session to hear the arguments of the lawyers of the 84 accused persons and entities..

The accused must be tried and the most severe punishment imposed

The case relates to members of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood committing crimes of establishing and managing a terrorist organization and laundering money obtained from felonies of establishing and establishing a terrorist organization..

The Public Prosecution had concluded its case, which extended to two separate sessions, during which it confirmed that this case is completely different from Case No. 79 of 2012 State Security Penalty, and is not a retrial of the accused according to the evidence it presented in the public session, which included confessions and admissions of the accused that were consistent with the investigations of the State Security Apparatus. Testimonies and reports of experts who were assigned to monitor and analyze the activities of the accused.

The Public Prosecution demanded that the most severe punishment be imposed on the accused, based on Article No. 88 of the Penal Code, which states that if crimes are committed for one purpose and are inextricably linked to each other, they must all be considered one crime and the penalty prescribed for the most severe of these crimes must be imposed..

Also, Article 90 of the Penal Code stipulates that if the perpetrator in the case stipulated in Article 88 of this law was tried for the crime with the lesser punishment, he must be tried thereafter for the crime with the more severe punishment. In this case, the court orders the implementation of the sentence imposed. In the last ruling, taking into account what was actually implemented from the previous ruling.

Justice and Dignity is a separate secret organization that aims to commit terrorist acts

The Public Prosecution’s case extended to two separate sessions, in which it reviewed – in the first, which lasted about 5 hours and was attended by the defendants’ lawyers, their families, and representatives of the media – its evidence against the defendants on charges of establishing and managing a secret terrorist organization in the state (the Justice and Dignity Committee), for the purpose of committing terrorist acts and collecting and laundering money. To serve the organization.

The prosecution presented evidence against the defendants, including: confessions of one of the defendants that the organization studied the events that coincided with the so-called “Arab Spring revolutions” in order to create a similar revolutionary model in the Emirates. It also admitted that the first and second defendants proposed establishing the terrorist organization “Committee for Justice and Dignity” as a secret organization. Separate from the terrorist organization “Call for Reform”, its purpose is to follow the method of revolution, violence and clash with security, causing casualties and paralyzing the capabilities of state agencies..

The accused also admitted that the method of the aforementioned terrorist organization relied on creating a state of anger and tension in society, which drives people to gather and demonstrate in the streets, resulting in a violent clash with security personnel, causing deaths and injuries, and exploiting this as fuel to increase tension and promoting it in the media at the internal and external levels to obtain On support from external organizations, the organization established teams and their tasks and members were defined.

The accused also admitted that the organization planned the stage of bringing people into the street, and choosing one of the squares known as the state.

The accused concluded his confessions with a meeting of the members of the organization in the house of the second accused, which clarifies the reality of the terrorist organization, its purpose and its method in causing chaos, even if it leads to bloodshed and loss of life..

An organizational structure and 5 teams in the terrorist organization Justice and Dignity

The Public Prosecution reviewed in front of the audience the organizational structure of the Justice, Dignity and Terrorist Committee headed by the second accused, which included 5 teams: the electronic team, whose tasks lie in publishing news on the Internet and social networking sites that would inflame public opinion, and the legal team, whose mission is to communicate with legal organizations. Local, regional, and international teams, and the national team, whose tasks lie in mobilizing notables and intellectuals in the country against what they call “violations of the security services.” And the media team, whose role lies in creating accounts on social media sites, publishing tweets and news, and implementing media campaigns, in addition to training the organization’s youth in Inciting public opinion on the Internet and trying to pave the way for the idea of ​​a “revolution” in people’s minds. The last team, which is the external work team, carries out the tasks of facilitating the escape of the organization’s members from the state, coordinating with the Gulf “Brotherhood” organizations to support the fugitives, and working to organize media campaigns against state institutions from abroad..

Evidence proving the organisation’s management, activities and purpose

The prosecution reviewed documents proving the defendants’ involvement in stirring up public opinion and undermining citizens’ confidence in state institutions in order to create a state of tension in society that could explode. It presented a document proving the meeting of some members of the organization in the home of one of them, and this document shows that the two gathered discussed the proposal to “raise questions to raise public opinion.” “.

The prosecution presented documents seized from one of the defendants, including a plan to translate inflammatory news, articles, and reports into English, contact media outlets, including 27 foreign media platforms, and supply them with archival materials, in addition to holding a series of meetings with prominent media figures from foreign countries, claiming that there is a state of discontent prevailing in society. To be covered by foreign media.

The Public Prosecution also presented a video clip proving that one of the defendants incited students to take to the street, filmed it, and circulated it on social media platforms with the aim of inciting this group to demonstrate in the street to put pressure on state institutions..

The Public Prosecution showed pictures of tweets belonging to one of the accused, in which he likened “Tahrir Square” in Egypt to one of the famous squares in the country, with its symbolism as an arena for the revolution..

Electronic monitoring…and a report by a media expert committee

In its evidence, the Public Prosecution used the report of a committee of media experts that was formed with the aim of analyzing the organization’s media and electronic activity, in which the committee concluded that this activity was according to a systematic method with a unified approach, and that the defendants intended to create a state of popular anger and stir up public opinion and incite it. Targeting national unity, questioning and belittling the success of its development model, generating a state of anger, forming a state of tension, and directing the collective mind towards accepting the idea of ​​gathering and demonstrating..

Commenting on the Media Committee’s report, the Public Prosecution confirmed that the committee’s findings of electronic monitoring and analysis of the defendants’ accounts, what they published on social media platforms, and their media activity indicate the validity of the findings of the investigations and the testimony of witnesses, in addition to the validity of the previously mentioned confession of the accused, and confirmation of the existence of a plan. Electronic media consistent with what he recognized.

Audio recordings…and confessions of those accused in the investigations

The prosecution also offered to admit the defendants to paying monthly sums of money to the organization, facilitating the holding of its members’ meetings in their homes, exploiting the so-called “Arab Spring revolutions” to serve the terrorist organization’s agendas, and inciting to take to the streets and start demonstrations..

The Public Prosecution also presented audio recordings proving that the defendants distributed the tasks of the teams in the terrorist organization “Committee for Justice and Dignity,” in addition to exploiting university students with activists to serve the organization’s purposes, and seeking the help of others from outside the organization for the purpose of misleading public opinion..

Laundering money derived from illegal reform advocacy activities

In the second public session, the Public Prosecution addressed in its case the charge of laundering money obtained from the felonies of creating and establishing a secret terrorist organization, and confirmed that the members of the organization established two companies as fictitious economic arms to launder the money collected, which was collected through the monthly subscriptions of the organization’s members, in addition to collecting donations on a regular basis. illegal.

Monthly subscriptions, fundraising, and other charitable aspects for the organization and its activities

The Public Prosecution presented the testimony of one of the witnesses, who confirmed that the terrorist secret organization relied on several sources of funding, which are subscriptions imposed on members at the rate of 5% of the employees’ monthly income and 1% of the profits of workers in the field of trade or professionals..

The witness also confirmed that the collection and transfer of funds was carried out in organizational secrecy, in addition to collecting donations, alms, and zakat funds from some individuals, in addition to donations from members of the organization..

The Public Prosecution presented the confession of one of the defendants (the financial director) about illegally collecting donations and monthly subscriptions and placing them in his home’s safe, provided that he delivers them to the heads of the organization’s central committees based on the instructions of the members of the organization’s board of directors..

The prosecutor presented a document extracted from the computer of the aforementioned defendant, which included a statement of the funds collected on a monthly basis in one year. A document written in the defendant’s handwriting in which he mentioned some of the amounts received was also presented, along with another document related to donation funds..

Companies to invest illegal organization funds

The aforementioned witness also confirmed that the organization had established a financial base through which the group could be financed through real estate investments, whether in their personal names or with the participation of others, and that the two companies mentioned previously contributed to the establishment of two other companies, and that the aforementioned companies worked to invest the organization’s illegal funds in the country through Introducing it into many projects, camouflaging its nature and source, and merging it with other commercial activities by hiding it from the security services in the country..

The witness also confirmed that the organization followed the chain of companies method in order to camouflage the source of the funds and remove suspicions about them, making it difficult to trace and reach the real source of the funds as a result of their transfer from one company to another..

Obtaining loans from banks to hide the organization’s illicit funds

The Public Prosecution presented its evidence about the movement of suspicious funds from one company to another by planning a member of the organization, exploiting his position in one of the state banks, and purchasing assets, shares, and real estate in the name of the aforementioned companies, for the purpose of laundering and purifying money..

The Public Prosecution used the testimony of two members of the Financial Examination Committee formed by the Public Prosecution’s decision in the investigations from the Financial Information Unit, which confirmed, after scrutiny, that the organization committed the crime of money laundering through 6 chain companies linked to each other in several professional ways, and by contracting with several banks in the country to obtain… Financing to invest in some financial and real estate assets with the aim of increasing capital.

After the Public Prosecution reviewed in detail the confessions of the accused, the testimony of the eight witnesses, the reports of the Media Committee and the Financial Information Unit, and other evidence and clues, it concluded its pleadings by requesting the most severe punishment against the accused after proving intent and intention to harm society and endanger its safety, its individuals, and state institutions..