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UAE Underscores Support for Lebanon’s Security and Sovereignty

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and Joseph Aoun, President of Lebanon, stand for a photograph before a meeting at Al Shati Palace, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, April 30, 2025. Abdulla Al Bedwawi /UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERS
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and Joseph Aoun, President of Lebanon, stand for a photograph before a meeting at Al Shati Palace, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, April 30, 2025. Abdulla Al Bedwawi /UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERS
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UAE Underscores Support for Lebanon’s Security and Sovereignty

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and Joseph Aoun, President of Lebanon, stand for a photograph before a meeting at Al Shati Palace, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, April 30, 2025. Abdulla Al Bedwawi /UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERS
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and Joseph Aoun, President of Lebanon, stand for a photograph before a meeting at Al Shati Palace, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, April 30, 2025. Abdulla Al Bedwawi /UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERS

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed has underscored his country’s support for Lebanon’s security, stability and sovereignty, a joint statement said Thursday.

Sheikh Mohamed welcomed Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at Al Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

The statement said that the UAE President expressed hope that the visit would deepen the fraternal relations between the two countries and advance their shared interests and aspirations for progress and prosperity.

Sheikh Mohamed said he was keen to work jointly with Lebanon to foster development, prosperity, security, and regional stability.

According to the statement, Aoun stressed he was ready to continue strengthening bilateral relations.

The two sides discussed ways to foster bilateral relations in various fields, and to develop economic and investment sectors, through joint opportunities, knowledge exchange, and government development.

The UAE’s Government Experience Exchange Office of the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs will visit Beirut to share best practices in government performance and institutional excellence to benefit both countries’ public and private sectors, said the statement.

The two sides also agreed to allow travel for citizens by implementing necessary procedures and mechanisms to ease movement between the two countries.

Both sides expressed their aspiration to raise the level of mutual diplomatic representation and agreed to establish a joint UAE-Lebanon Business Council. The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development will send a delegation to Lebanon to explore and assess available joint cooperation projects.

Sheikh Mohamed reaffirmed Lebanon’s strategic importance within the Arab world, affirming that Lebanon is a key pillar of joint Arab action.

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UAE: Life Sentences for 24 Defendants in the ‘Justice and Dignity’ Case

The United Arab Emirates’ Federal Supreme Court (WAM)
The United Arab Emirates’ Federal Supreme Court (WAM)
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UAE: Life Sentences for 24 Defendants in the ‘Justice and Dignity’ Case

The United Arab Emirates’ Federal Supreme Court (WAM)
The United Arab Emirates’ Federal Supreme Court (WAM)

The United Arab Emirates’ Federal Supreme Court has issued a ruling partially overturning a previous verdict in the case known as the “Justice and Dignity Terrorist Organization,” sentencing 24 defendants to life imprisonment after they were found guilty of collaborating with the group and funding the “Al Islah Terrorist Organization.”

The court also ordered the confiscation of funds and tools seized in connection with both crimes.

The court delivered its decision during a session held on Thursday, June 26, following the partial acceptance of an appeal filed by the Attorney General, Counselor Dr. Hamad Al Shamsi. The appeal contested the ruling of the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal – State Security Chamber, which had dismissed the criminal case on the grounds that the defendants had already been tried in the matter.

In his appeal, the Attorney General argued that the contested ruling was flawed, as it failed to recognize the distinct nature of the crimes of financing and collaborating with the terrorist organization as stipulated under Federal Law No. (1) of 2004. He noted that these charges had not been included in the earlier 2012 case, in which the defendants were convicted solely of establishing and managing the “Al Islah Organization,” in accordance with the Penal Code.

In its reasoning, the Federal Supreme Court emphasized that the acts attributed to the defendants in the current case are different from those previously adjudicated. The court stated that they cannot be considered a single act under multiple legal descriptions, as the cause and subject of each are separate. It underlined that the criminal conduct at the heart of the new charges is distinct and carries a harsher penalty prescribed by law, thereby justifying a retrial on these offenses.

As a result of this ruling, the number of convicted individuals in what is regarded as one of the country’s largest national security cases has risen to 83 out of 84 defendants referred to trial.

According to the Emirates News Agency (WAM), the State Security Chamber of the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal had previously convicted 53 defendants, who were leaders and members of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood organization, along with six affiliated companies. Sentences in that judgment ranged from life imprisonment to temporary prison terms, as well as fines of up to 20 million dirhams. One defendant was acquitted.

WAM confirmed that this ruling reflects the UAE’s approach in confronting terrorist organizations and their financing, underscoring the independence of the judiciary and its strict application of the law in matters that threaten the security and stability of the state.