Naim Abbas, a 65-year-old Australian citizen living in Dubai, has been held in the United Arab Emirates on espionage charges since October 2017, relating to allegations he conveyed information to Qatar about road projects.
The UAE prosecutor alleged that Mr Abbas conveyed confidential information about Roads and Transport Authority Dubai to a Qatari officer without his manager’s consent, but Mr Abbas insisted that he met with the Qatari officer inside the Emirati manager’s office under supervision.
Appearing for the second day of his trial at the Federal Supreme Court on Wednesday, Mr Abbas’ case appeared to suffer a major blow when two defence witnesses turned against him, according to his brother Adil Abbas.
Adil Abbas, who resides in Sydney, told SBS Arabic24 that the family was “very pessimistic about the possible court ruling” following the witness testimony, which was “not in favour of Naim”.
Naim Abbas Source: Supplied
In a court hearing held in late September, Mr Abbas’ lawyer asked the judge to summon his client's defence witnesses, who were his two former managers at the Dubai Road Commission.
The lawyer also demanded the charges against Mr Abbas be dropped, claiming that his client conveyed the information with the knowledge of his managers and with good intention during a time of political calm between the UAE and Qatar.
One of his former managers said he did not recall if Mr Abbas had travelled to Qatar or advised of his intention to travel to Qatar during his time of employment, Adil Abbas claimed.
Naim Abbas Source: Supplied
His brother also claimed the second manager “told the court that he did not recall that Naim met the Qatari officer in his office and that the Qatari officer then was not on an unofficial visit”.
Although Mr Abbas’ family was optimistic before Wednesday’s hearing that the course of the trial would be tilted in his favour following positive testimony, his brother said they now felt fear about Naim’s fate.
Mr Abbas’ lawyer told his family that he would make his final defence submission in a court hearing scheduled for 21 November and that the court would inform him of the ruling in writing after that.
Adil Abbas said he spoke to his brother on Thursday, who wished to pass on a message to the Australian government.
“My brother stressed that he is innocent and appealed to Prime Minister Scott Morrison to intervene to save him from an unjust sentence,” Adil Abbas said.
He added that his brother wished for the government to apply a similar push that led to the release of Australian filmmaker James Ricketson who was sentenced to six years' jail by a Cambodian court for espionage but released after a special pardon.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it would provide assistance to Mr Abbas.
“DFAT consular officials are providing consular assistance to an Australian man facing charges in the UAE, including liaising with his family in Australia,” DFAT said in a statement but declined to comment further, citing “privacy considerations”.
