UAE Court Hands Eight Defendants Life Sentences for Sudan Arms Trafficking

Eight individuals received life imprisonment sentences in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday after an Abu Dhabi court found them guilty of trafficking arms to Sudan’s army. The Federal Court of Appeal also determined that the defendants operated a money laundering network connecting the two nations. State-run news agency WAM reported the verdict, which concluded the group participated in a coordinated scheme to move weapons, ammunition, and military equipment.

The court found that the accused used companies and bank accounts within the UAE to forge documents. These instruments were used to channel funds for the arms deals while concealing the origin and destination of the money. The judge ordered the seizure of ammunition and communication devices used in the offenses. The convicted persons will be deported from the UAE upon completion of their sentences.

According to the court order, the arms transactions and associated money laundering endangered UAE interests. The ruling marks a formal legal judgment in a dispute that has strained diplomatic relations between Abu Dhabi and Khartoum. Ties have worsened as the Sudanese military accuses the UAE of supplying weapons to its rival, the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, a paramilitary group engaged in civil war with the army since April 2023. The UAE has denied the allegation.

The conflict has displaced more than 14 million people and caused severe poverty and food shortages. This week, military drones struck a busy city market in Nyala, a city in the western region of Darfur frequently visited by RSF fighters. More than 100 people, mostly women and children, were killed in the attack. Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, stated that a second strike hit a nearby civilian neighborhood.

MSF reported that a hospital it supports in Nyala received 36 bodies in the hours following that second attack. Twenty-one of the deceased were wearing civilian clothing. Hospital teams treated more than 150 wounded patients 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. That accusation followed the group’s takeover of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, after forcing the Sudanese army to withdraw from its last stronghold in the region.

The legal proceedings in Abu Dhabi coincide with intensifying military strikes in western Sudan. The court’s decision to deport the eight defendants after their sentences reflects the diplomatic distance between the two countries. The confiscated materials, including communication devices, are now held by Emirati authorities. The verdict was issued by the Federal Court of Appeal in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.