UAE puts 94 on trial for alleged treason

In a crack down on Islamist groups in the country, the UAE has put 94 people with suspected links to the radical Muslim Brotherhood on trial for plotting to overthrow the Gulf regime and seize power.

UAE Attorney General Salem Saeed Kubaish said 94 suspects have been referred to the Federal Supreme Court for trial.

“Investigations revealed that the arrested people launched, established and ran an organisation seeking to oppose the basic principles of the UAE system of governance and to seize power,” state-run WAM news agency quoted Kubaish as saying on Sunday.

The official did not name the suspects, but authorities have arrested perceived dissidents for months. The crackdown on Islamists has raised tensions with Egypt, which is ruled by Muslim Brotherhood member President Mohammed Mursi.

The agency yesterday quoted Kubaish as saying that the suspects built a secret network to plan and raised money through real estate and other deals. He also said that the suspects had links to the Muslim Brotherhood and others for expertise and financial support.

“The organisation took a foreign cover (shape) and announced its declared principles as being calling on society to observe the teaching and virtues of Islam, while their undeclared aims were, in fact, to seek to seize power,” Kubaish said.

“They planned this covertly in secret meetings which they convened in their houses and farms, as well as other places, seeking to hide the fact of these meetings, as well as what happened at them, from the authorities,” he said, adding that the suspects built a secret organisational structure.