Reem Island Suspect Referred To UAE Supreme Court

UAE Attorney General counselor Salem Saeed Kubaish has said that the suspect in the Reem Island murder has been referred to the country’s supreme court for the hearing of the charges against her.

The suspect Alaa Bader Abdullah was charged with the murder of American schoolteacher Ibolya Ryan in an Abu Dhabi mall toilet and for placing an explosive at the doorstep of another resident with an intention to harm, state news agency WAM reported.

The accused was also charged on the counts of “collecting explosive materials, which is prohibited to be assembled by law, without a license, and establishing and managing electronically an account on the internet under a pseudonym with a view to promoting ideas of a terrorist group.”

Abdullah was also accused of “publishing through this account information intended to distort the reputation, prestige and stature of the state and undermine its figures, in addition to funding a terrorist organisation knowing that it will be used in terrorist acts.”

The fact that she committed these crimes with intent “to cause death, to stir up fear among people, to compromise the prestigious stature of the state and threaten its security and stability” will be added to her list of charges, WAM reported.

Kubaish said that charges against Abdullah were filed after extensive investigation, which revealed that she was influenced by speeches given by figures such as Osama Bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

He added that the accused embraced the “takfiri and jihadist ideology” and later enagaged in acts that supported terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda and Daesh.

She was also found to be promoting these groups through a disguised e-account, the UAE Attorney General said.

He also said that the accused also donated funds to Al Qaeda with an aim of financing terrorist operations inside the UAE.

“The accused committed her crime against a foreign resident (a US woman) in a shopping centre to spread terror among both expatriate residents and visitors and embarrass and undermine the State authorities globally,” said Kubaish.

He added that the accused confessed in detail to investigators to have committed these crimes. The Reem Island suspect was alo provided with all legal guarantees during the period of investigation, the Attorney General said.

This is the first time that the UAE is publicly naming the accused-an Emirati woman- in the Abu Dhabi mall murder. Aside from the name, no other details about the suspect were disclosed.

US media had previously identified the woman as Dalal Al Hashemi, a 38 year-old UAE citizen of Yemeni origin.

The killing of 47-year old Ibolya Ryan in Abu Dhabi last year shocked the UAE, which is home to a sizeable expat population.

Dubbed the ‘Reem Island Ghost’, Abdullah- dressed in an abaya, black gloves and a niqab- allegedly stabbed Ryan in a toilet at the Boutik Mall in Abu Dhabi on December 4 last year.

Following the killing of Ryan, she proceeded to plant a bomb at the doorstep of an American doctor in the capital.

However, her plans were thwarted by the police who identified and detained her within 48 hours of the crime through the help of CCTV footage of the mall.