UAE jails man for 5 years for cybercrimes, joining Daesh

ABU DHABI: The State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) issued a five-year jail sentence to a man for trying to damage the reputation of the emirates and promoting terrorist groups including Daesh, according to the UAE official news agency WAM.

The defendant, who is a 21-year-old citizen of Comoros Islands, was also fined Rs38 million (One million Dirhams). Many people, who speak Arabic and residents of the UAE since many years, have Comoros Islands’ passport.

The accused was found guilty for joining the terrorist organisation, Daesh, and pledging allegiance to the leader of the militant terrorist organisation ISIS Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi via their Twitter account.

According to the WAM, the court ordered the confiscation of all devices used to commit the crimes as well as the wiping of all data produced by the defendant. All the social media accounts associated with the defendant will also be closed.

The defendant had also been urging young individuals to join the terrorist groups, according to the court. The accused was also convicted of publishing media articles detailing false information detrimental to the UAE and its community.

The court also convicted the defendant of using their Twitter account to disseminate detrimental information and articles promoting al-Qaeda and Daesh.