Verdict against defendants final and not subject to appeal.
Abu Dhabi: Five people had life sentences upheld by the UAE’s State Security Court on Monday.
The Federal Supreme Court found them guilty of establishing a cell linked to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The court turned down an appeal filed by Ali N. D., Fadi A.S., and Abul Rahman T.S., all Lebanese, against their life imprisonment and upheld the lower court’s ruling.
The court ordered that communications equipment used in the crime be confiscated.
The top court also upheld the 10 years’ jail sentence handed down to Hussain M.B. and Ahmad N. M., both Lebanese.
Ahmad N.M was also fined Dh3,000 for possessing a firearm without a licence.
The court cleared Moustafa H.K., Swedish, Hussain A. Z., Ali H.N., Mohsen Al Q, and Jihad M.A., all Lebanese , from all charges.
Last year, three men were sentenced to life in prison for setting up a terrorist cell with links to Hezbollah.
The Federal Court of Appeals sentenced another two men to 10 years each in jail and acquitted five others.
The men, described as Arab, were convicted on charges of planning to commit terrorist crimes and acts of vandalism against vital installations in the country.
The 11 defendants, all Lebanese except for a Swedish of Lebanese origin, all of whom have lived and worked in the UAE for more than 15 years, were arrested in late 2017 and early 2018.
They were charged with establishing a cell linked to the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
The court ordered them to be deported from the country after their sentences end, confiscated all their communications equipment, computers and mobile phones and charged them with all the judicial expenses.
The State Security Prosecution charged members of the Hezbollah cell with spying for the intelligence of foreign countries to carry out terrorist acts in the UAE. They communicated pictures and maps of vital facilities to agent of Hezbollah, who handed them over to intelligence of a number of foreign countries.
The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait, classified Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation in 2016 and warned its citizens and resident expatriates against any links to it.
