UAE court jails eight for life over arms trafficking and money laundering to Sudan
A UAE court sentenced eight people to life imprisonment for illegally supplying weapons and laundering money tied to Sudan's army. The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal ordered deportation after sentences are served.
Eight convicted for life in UAE over Sudan arms and money-laundering scheme
A court in the United Arab Emirates has sentenced eight people to life imprisonment for arms trafficking and money laundering linked to Sudan's military, aljazeera.com reports.
The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal concluded on Thursday that the convicted individuals had taken part in an organised scheme involving the illicit supply of weapons, ammunition and military equipment to the Sudanese army. The Emirati state-run news agency WAM confirmed the verdict.
According to WAM, the group was also part of a money-laundering network operating between the two countries. Prosecutors found the accused had used shell companies and bank accounts in the UAE to channel funds tied to the arms deals and to conceal both their origin and destination. Forged documents were central to the operation, the court determined.
The court ordered the confiscation of ammunition and communications devices connected to the crimes. All eight convicts are to be deported from the UAE upon completing their sentences. The court ruling stated that the "arms deals and money laundering endangered UAE interests."
The case surfaces against a backdrop of strained UAE–Sudan relations. Sudan's military has accused Abu Dhabi of supplying arms to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group it has been fighting since April 2023. The UAE has denied the allegation.
Sudan's civil war has displaced more than 14 million people and triggered severe food shortages and poverty across the country. This week, more than 100 people — mostly women and children — were killed when military drones struck a busy market in the city of Nyala in the Darfur region, frequented by RSF fighters.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that a second attack hit a civilian neighbourhood in Nyala. A hospital supported by MSF received 36 bodies within hours of that strike, 21 of them in civilian clothing, whilst MSF teams treated more than 150 wounded in the emergency room.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has previously accused the RSF of committing war crimes and a possible crime against humanity in its takeover of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, after Sudan's army was forced to withdraw from its last stronghold in the region.
Source: Google News AE