The United Arab Emirates' top court convicted a Qatari doctor and sentenced him to seven years behind bars today in the latest move by the Gulf federation against the Muslim Brotherhood and its perceived Islamist allies.
The Federal Supreme Court in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi found Dr. Mahmoud al-Jaidah guilty of charges linked to cooperating with an illegal clandestine organization that aimed to overthrow the government, according to state news agency WAM.
He will be deported after serving his sentence. The UAE, a federation of seven semiautonomous sheikdoms that includes Abu Dhabi and Dubai, claims that Islamist groups backed by the Brotherhood have sought to topple its Western-backed ruling system.
Al-Jaidah was detained while transiting through Dubai airport on his way from Thailand to Qatar in February last year. His family has said he had no active role with the Brotherhood, and rights groups have raised concerns about al-Jaidah's claims that he faced torture and improper treatment while in pre-trial detention.
Two other defendants, both Emiratis, were convicted of ties to the group and were each sentenced to five years behind bars. They were identified as Abdul Wahid Hassan al-Badi al-Shehhi and Saeed Abdullah al-Buraimi.
A fourth Emirati being tried on related charges was acquitted.
The UAE sees the Brotherhood and affiliated groups as a threat to its political system. It is a backer of Egypt's transitional government, which has launched sweeping crackdowns on the group there following the ouster of former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, one of its leading figures. In January, the same court that tried al-Jaidah convicted 30 men, most of them Egyptian, of setting up an illegal Brotherhood branch in the UAE. They received prison terms ranging from three months to five years.
