A Qatari physician received a seven-year jail sentence from a court in the UAE on Monday for supporting an illegal Islamist group, the UAE state news agency Wam said.

UAE authorities detained Mahmoud Al-Jaidah at Dubai airport on February 26, 2013 on charges of supporting Al-Islah, a group in banned in the UAE for its alleged link to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Islah denies any such link, but says it shares some of the Brotherhood's Islamist ideology.

The Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi found Jaidah guilty of "supporting the secret illegal organisation", which it did not name, and sentenced him to seven years in jail and deportation after he completes his term, Wam said.

"(Jaidah) supported the organisation financially and morally by contacting its leaders and trying to mediate differences within the group on administrative matters," the agency said.

A relative of Jaidah, who asked not to be named, told Reuters in Doha: "He got seven years in jail. It's shocking."

Two Emirati citizens were also convicted of supporting the group and each received five-year sentences, Wam said.

The court's rulings cannot be appealed.

In July, a UAE court found 61 people guilty of plotting to overthrow the government and sentenced them to up to 10 years in jail.

In January, 30 Emiratis and Egyptians were convicted of forming an illegal branch of the Brotherhood and received jail terms of up to five years.  -Reuters