Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — The United Arab Emirates has decided to dismantle the Muslim Brotherhood network.

A UAE security court convicted 30 defendants, 20 of them Egyptians, of membership in the outlawed Brotherhood.

The court, in a verdict that could not be appealed, sentenced the 30 people to terms of up to five years and ordered the shutdown of the Egyptian-based Islamist movement.

“The trial was transparent and fair, which also addressed the defendants’ requests as per procedures of the UAE constitution and international human rights laws,” Judge Abdul Rahman Al Tunaiji said on Jan. 21.

This marked the third trial in the UAE crackdown of the Brotherhood over the last year. Six of the latest Egyptian defendants managed to flee the emirates and were tried in absentia.

In his verdict, Al Tunaiji ordered the dismantling of the Brotherhood branch in the UAE. The judge said six suspected Brotherhood offices would be shut down and their contents confiscated.

“The court reached a verdict based on all the documents and evidence
presented and took into account all the information presented by the public
prosecution, attorneys, witness accounts and expert reports,” Al Tunaiji
said.

The Egyptians complained that their legal rights had been violated
during the trial, and most of the UAE suspects as well as their attorneys
refused to attend the verdict. They said the Emirates Human Rights
Association refused to visit the defendants in detention.

The UAE defendants, several of whom were charged with relaying
classified information, have already been serving 10-year sentences, imposed
in July 2013. The defendants had been convicted of establishing an
organization called Al Islah as part of a plan to overthrow the government.

  Emirates Human Rights Association, Islamist movement, Judge Abdul Rahman Al Tunaiji, UAE court ruling outlaws Muslim Brotherhood