Electronic devices showed terrorist connections, court hears

Fifteen men are on trial for having connections with Jabhat Al Nusra in Syria, an Al Qaeda subsidiary.

ABU DHABI // Electronic devices found in defendants’ homes showed communication channels between them and members of Jabhat Al Nusra in Syria, the State Security Court heard on Tuesday.

Fifteen men are on trial for having connections with the Al Qaeda subsidiary; four are being tried in absentia.

They are also accused of convincing others to join the movement, and collecting monies for the purpose of committing terrorist acts against civilians in Syria. The men are accused of trying to build a bomb in the UAE, and owning unlicensed guns.

Evidence showed the devices had files with information on Ahrar Al Sham, another subsidiary.

Pictures, videos and conversations on the social networking application Twitter were also found.

The videos were lectures encouraging jihad, said Judge Mohammed Al Jarah Al Tenaiji, and the pictures were step-by-step illustrations on how to create weapons and bombs.

Judge Al Tenaiji questioned defendant M E, 36, from Syria, on the many files found on his personal laptop.

Defending himself, M E said: “I am a computer engineer, and the laptops I have are not my own. I have many customers and the devices need maintenance. I can find many other files while working on the laptops, but they are not mine.”

Reports on the devices by the state security electronics lab also showed another Syrian defendant, S G, 39, had conversations with members of the front.

“You were taught how to convince young men to go into jihad, and you sent amounts under the name of jihad. What is your response?” Judge Al Tenaiji said.

The defendant said he had no connections with members of Jabhat Al Nusra, and any form of communication with them is “impossible”.

Defendant A B, 28, from the Comoros, was asked why he had pictures of Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri, leaders of Al Qaeda.

A B said he used his mobile phone to download pictures from various websites, and they could have been downloaded by mistake.

The judge then asked defence lawyers to present their requests in court.

Lawyers previously requested the presence of four witnesses to testify.

Mohammed Ahmed, who is representing four defendants, also requested bail for two of his clients.

“K A recently had an eye surgery in Spain,” he said. “I am providing the court with his medical reports. Also, A R is a student, and there is no evidence against him. He is missing college days over the case. I request bail for both of my clients.”

Saeed Al Zahmi, who represents five of the defendants, asked for a copy of the case files regarding his client, A B, 26, an Emirati. He also asked to see the reports on the unlicensed gun AB is accused of having.

Judge Al Tenaiji rejected the requests, and adjourned the case until September 28.