Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court has sentenced an Arab woman accused of inciting hatred on social media, invading the privacy and verbally assaulting a participant at a book fair held recently in the country, by broadcasting a live video on a social media network.
The court decided to penalise the offender with a six-month jail term and a fine of Dh50,000 for the offence of invasion of the victim's privacy.
The woman was also ordered to delete all photos and recordings. The device used was confiscated, alongside the permanent closure of her Twitter account, and a penalty of Dh10,000 for the offence of insult.
The court granted a stay of execution of the prison sentence for a period of three years from the date on which the judgment becomes final, and herexpulsion from the country once the sentence has been served.
The Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution had taken the necessary legal measures in the case after the video was posted and picked up on several social media platforms, showing the accused verbally assaulting the victim, and challenging his presence at public events due to a previous conviction handed down against him in a case abroad.
Following the investigation, the Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution indicted the woman in its decision to refer the matter to the competent criminal court on charges of arousing public opinion, invasion of privacy on social media networks, insult and defamation, and requested her punishment in accordance with the articles of Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021 on Combating Rumours and Cybercrime.
