UAE cracks down on local Muslim Brotherhood group

DUBAI - A United Arab Emirates (UAE) court on Wednesday sentenced 43 dissidents to life in prison for operating what it said was a Muslim Brotherhood group that aimed to commit attacks in the country, state news agency WAM reported.

Eleven others received lesser sentences and six companies were convicted of money laundering to support a terrorist organization, it added.

The UAE's media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The verdict can be appealed before the UAE's Federal Supreme Court, WAM said.

Those convicted were members of the Justice and Dignity Committee, a local group of the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world's oldest and most influential Islamist movements which the UAE listed as a terrorist organization in 2014, WAM reported.

They "worked to create and replicate violent events in the country, similar to what has occurred in other Arab states," including protests and clashes with security forces, WAM said, citing the court, without specifying their plans.

The Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center said those convicted had already been convicted in 2013 for their involvement with the group.