UAE Court Sentences Eight to Life Over Arms Supplies to Sudan's Army
A court in the United Arab Emirates has sentenced eight people to life imprisonment over arms trafficking and money laundering linked to Sudan's army, according to Al Jazeera.
Emirati state news agency WAM reported that the individuals supplied weapons and military equipment to the Sudanese army as part of a money-laundering network connecting the UAE and Sudan. Money laundering is the practice of disguising money obtained illegally so that it appears legitimate.
The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal found that the convicted individuals took part in an integrated scheme to traffic weapons, ammunition and military equipment. The court found that the accused forged documents and used companies and bank accounts in the UAE to channel funds for the arms deals, concealing where the money and the weapons came from and where they were going.
The court ordered the confiscation of ammunition and communications devices used in the crimes. It also ordered that those convicted be deported from the UAE after they serve their sentences. Its order said the arms deals and money laundering endangered UAE interests.
The case unfolds against a wider conflict. Sudan's army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, have been fighting since April 2023, and the war has displaced more than 14 million people. Sudan's army has accused the UAE of supplying arms to the RSF, an allegation the UAE has denied.
Other threads have run alongside the case. A UN panel said dozens of UAE flights to an airstrip were supplying weapons, not aid, to Sudan's rebels. In April 2026 the UAE referred a Sudanese general and others to court over an ammunition shipment to Sudan. Africa Confidential reported in May that the UAE had charged 13 individuals in a weapons case linked to Sudan army insiders.
U.S. lawmakers have also taken up the issue. They sought to halt U.S. weapons sales to the UAE, citing Sudan, and later said the UAE was providing weapons to the RSF. Sudan's attorney general has condemned the UAE for hosting a UN crime prevention congress, citing what he described as Abu Dhabi's alleged weapons support.
