DUBAI: A UAE court handed a life sentence on Monday to the husband of an Emirati woman who was executed for the murder of an American schoolteacher.
A media report said Mohammed Al-Hashemi, 34, was found guilty by the Federal Supreme Court of planning to assassinate one of the country’s leaders and of plotting to blow up the race track that hosts the Emirates Formula One Grand Prix, as well as a nearby Ikea furniture store in Abu Dhabi.
Prosecutors had also accused him of transferring nearly $22,000 to support Al-Qaeda and of pledging allegiance online with his wife to the Daesh group. The couple had six children together.
Al-Hashemi denied the charges and told the court his wife had been the one using their computer to visit extremist websites.
His lawyer had told the court Al-Hashemi was a civil servant and a committed father who had enrolled his sons in private schools to give them a good life, according to the report.
He said the chemicals seized in his house, such as Clorox, aluminum and gunpowder from fireworks, could not have been used to manufacture explosives, saying some came from parts of broken toys. He said the prosecution’s claim of financial transfers to Al-Qaeda had shown discrepancies.
The report said Al-Hashemi was known to authorities for holding radical views and was detained in November 2014, a month before his wife, Alaa Al-Hashemi, stabbed to death an American woman. She had told police at the time of her arrest that she’d committed the murder to avenge her husband’s arrest. She was found guilty of the murder and executed in July 2015.
The murder of schoolteacher Ibolya Ryan, 47, left a trail of blood in the public restroom at a mall in Abu Dhabi’s upscale Reem Island.
Ryan, who had three children, had been living in Abu Dhabi with her 11 year-old twins. She had taught elementary school in Colorado before moving to the UAE.
Police said the attacker had targeted her victim based on nationality alone in an attempt to create chaos in the country. She had also planted a bomb outside another American’s house that was discovered before it could be detonated.
A media report said Mohammed Al-Hashemi, 34, was found guilty by the Federal Supreme Court of planning to assassinate one of the country’s leaders and of plotting to blow up the race track that hosts the Emirates Formula One Grand Prix, as well as a nearby Ikea furniture store in Abu Dhabi.
Prosecutors had also accused him of transferring nearly $22,000 to support Al-Qaeda and of pledging allegiance online with his wife to the Daesh group. The couple had six children together.
Al-Hashemi denied the charges and told the court his wife had been the one using their computer to visit extremist websites.
His lawyer had told the court Al-Hashemi was a civil servant and a committed father who had enrolled his sons in private schools to give them a good life, according to the report.
He said the chemicals seized in his house, such as Clorox, aluminum and gunpowder from fireworks, could not have been used to manufacture explosives, saying some came from parts of broken toys. He said the prosecution’s claim of financial transfers to Al-Qaeda had shown discrepancies.
The report said Al-Hashemi was known to authorities for holding radical views and was detained in November 2014, a month before his wife, Alaa Al-Hashemi, stabbed to death an American woman. She had told police at the time of her arrest that she’d committed the murder to avenge her husband’s arrest. She was found guilty of the murder and executed in July 2015.
The murder of schoolteacher Ibolya Ryan, 47, left a trail of blood in the public restroom at a mall in Abu Dhabi’s upscale Reem Island.
Ryan, who had three children, had been living in Abu Dhabi with her 11 year-old twins. She had taught elementary school in Colorado before moving to the UAE.
Police said the attacker had targeted her victim based on nationality alone in an attempt to create chaos in the country. She had also planted a bomb outside another American’s house that was discovered before it could be detonated.
