AG orders trial of ‘Bahloul’ gang for terrorising victims

After a thorough investigation lasting over seven months, UAE Attorney-General Dr Hamad Saif Al Shamsi ordered the referral of an organised criminal gang to trial before the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeals Court — State Security Department - for crimes threatening the state’s security, public order, and societal peace.

Investigations initiated by the Public Prosecution revealed the involvement of over a hundred defendants in forming, managing, and joining a criminal organisation known as the “Bahloul” gang.

The group is accused of engaging in illegal activities, accumulating illicit funds, and distributing the proceeds among themselves by exerting power and influence in the areas where they operate.

They allegedly promote their criminal activities through social media platforms and use prohibited tools and weapons to instill fear in their victims, intending to extort money from them as a form of tribute.

Additionally, the gang is accused of laundering money to conceal the illicit origins of their criminal proceeds.

The UAE Attorney-General emphasised that the Public Prosecution will enforce the law decisively against anyone who commits criminal acts or harms and terrorises people throughout the country.

He highlighted that law enforcement authorities perform their duties with utmost vigilance and in accordance with legal procedures to maintain the state’s security and ensure the safety of its residents.

The Attorney-General urged all citizens and residents who consider the UAE their home to report any crimes as soon as they become aware of them, in order to prevent their dire consequences.

Recently, investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution, under the supervision of the UAE Attorney-General, uncovered a new secret organisation operating outside the country.

This organisation was formed by fugitive members of the “Reform Call” Organisation, which is classified as a terrorist organisation within the country and was slated for dissolution in 2013.

The new organisation aims to revive the previous group and pursue similar objectives.

The State Security Service has been monitoring fugitives from various emirates who were sentenced in absentia in 2013.

This surveillance revealed two groups of the organisation’s members who convened abroad and recruited others to form a new organisation.

It was discovered that they received funding from sources within the UAE and from other terrorist groups and organisations outside the country.

The investigations further revealed that the organisation has established alliances with other terrorist groups to collaborate across media, economic, and educational sectors.

These efforts are intended to strengthen ties, secure funding, maintain the organisation’s presence, enhance protection mechanisms abroad, and achieve its objectives.

In one country, the group is associated with several fronts posing as charitable or intellectual organisations and television channels, the most notable being the Cordoba Foundation (TCF). Classified as a terrorist organisation in the country since 2014, TCF presents itself as a Middle Eastern “think-tank” institution.

It is led by Anas Altikriti, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood residing abroad, who played a significant role in organising demonstrations in front of UAE embassies and international organisations. The fugitive members communicated in secret meetings via internet applications and through mutual visits between the two groups.

The confessions of an arrested member of the organisation detailed the group’s structure and activities, and the roles of its members in threatening stability.

These activities include leading smear campaigns, promoting hate speech, questioning the state’s achievements, spreading discord among the populace, financing terrorism, engaging in money laundering, and cooperating with foreign intelligence services to destabilise state security.

They also incited actions against official institutions, targeted the UAE on human rights issues, sought to weaken confidence in the government, and stirred public opinion through fake online pages and accounts created for this purpose. Some members engaged directly with international human rights organisations, providing false information about state authorities to be used in negative reports against the UAE.

A team from the Public Prosecution is currently conducting intensive investigations to verify details from the confessions of the arrested member and from the State Security Service’s findings.

The Public Prosecution is expected to release details of the terrorist organisation and its crimes upon the completion of these investigations.

In July, the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeals Court — State Security Department — convicted 53 defendants, comprising leaders and members of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood organisation, and six companies, in Case No.87 of 2023 – State Security Offenses, known in the media as the terrorist “Justice and Dignity Committee” Organisation, and imposing penalties ranging from life imprisonment to a fine of Dhs20 million.

WAM