THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top security court in the United Arab Emirates sentenced 38 people to prison in connection with a cell accused of plotting terrorist attacks and seeking to overthrow the government to create an Islamic state.
Prosecutors said the Minaret Youth cell included Emirati as well as non-Emirati members. The group had also been charged with forming committees to recruit young Emiratis and of planning to assassinate top government officials in the country. Some members had also been accused of being members of Daesh in Iraq and Syria and al-Qaida’s one-time branch in Syria, al-Nusrah Front.
The state-run WAM news agency reported that the Federal Supreme Court’s state security chambers sentenced 11 of the defendants to life in prison, though two were tried in absentia. Another two were sentenced to 15 years, 13 were sentenced to 10 years, six to three years, two to five years, and four to six months in prison.
Seven others were acquitted, according to WAM. The official report did not give details on what the defendants had been found guilty of.
Abu Dhabi-based The National reported on its website that only two defendants pleaded guilty in court. The newspaper said the group’s leader, Khalid Abdulla Kalantar, had been a preacher at a mosque in Dubai who encouraged and promoted extremism.
The UAE is part of the coalition carrying out airstrikes against Daesh in Syria and Iraq.