29 September, 2009

7 Emarati Men and 1 Afghan held on terrorism charges

Personally, I find the charges of funding the Taliban to be silly. They have no concrete evidence against them except for the fact they would go pray in the same Mosque and had 'Military training' videos downloaded.

What I found exceptionally sad was they they weren't allowed to even pray while under captivity.

Two men, RD and AH, are accused of “setting up an organisation to enforce a strict code of Islam”, Justice Khalifa al Muhairi read in the Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi. Officials said the men were also funnelling money to the Taliban.

“You are accused of punishing a Bangladeshi man for speaking to a woman on the phone. You hit him severely and took pictures of him on your phone,” Justice al Muhairi added.

The first defendant, RD, denied the charges, which involve events alleged to have taken place more than a year before his arrest.

“I have never done such a thing,” he said. “Where are the pictures? If I did take them with my phone and I am accused of that, then where are the pictures? Why would the public prosecution charge me for a crime they allege I did more than a year ago?”

“I have signed confessions from the police and from the Public Prosecution of you admitting to your guilt. What do I do with that?” Justice al Muhairi said.

RD replied: “For three months I was placed in solitary confinement. I had no idea where I was. Every morning and every night, I would be beaten. I would confess to anything just to end this pain.”

The second defendant, AH, is also accused of helping found the group and gathering financing for the Taliban.

“I owe Dh90,000 (US$24,000) in bank loans on my car. Why would I give money to someone when I am in debt? If this is the case, then where is the evidence of bank transactions? There is nothing I donated, not even a dollar,” AH added.

He also told the court he had been forced into signing the confessions: “I was put in a freezing room for three months. I was not even allowed to pray.”


To read the whole article: http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090929/NATIONAL/709289835/1010

9 comments:

Em said...

where was this?

PD said...

UAE

Anonymous said...

PD,

It would have been nice if you had written your own commentary and set up The National article, as a clickable link instead of pasting almost 80% of the article.

Just a suggestion.

Anonymous said...

“I was put in a freezing room for three months. I was not even allowed to pray.”

And he survived those Arctic conditions in the desert enough to make this statement in court?

Wow, is this one tough dude or what?

Proud Emirati said...

When r we going to read such news in a local ARABIC newspaper? As for the news yes, there have been many similar cases so its no surprise that they are being tortured !

rosh said...

^^ Why is this happening? You don't have to comment, if it's too sensitive..

PD said...

Rosh, It's not just happening in the UAE. After 9/11, a lot of Muslim/Arab Countries have come under pressure especially from the West to 'crackdown on Islamic extremists' and in these crackdowns a lot of innocent people are taken victims.

If you're considered an 'extremist' Muslim then you come under scrutiny. Whats sad is, the definition of what is an 'extremist' Muslim these days is totally befuddled. For eg, having a fist length beard and wearing you clothes above your ankles [for Men] is imitating the Prophet saws and part of Islam, but these days, you'll find that a lot of people would claim such people as being 'extremist'.

I know such things happen here too no doubt, but i didnt know they happened on such a regular basis. I guess its just kept 'hidden'.

Anonymous said...

This actually terrifies me, and makes me feel kind of sick.

Lirun said...

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1118201.html it does look like the topic of security is heating up in the UAE..mspe

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