The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court has sentenced an Arab woman accused of broadcasting a live video on a social media platform, arousing public opinion, invading privacy and verbally assaulting a participant at a recent book fair held in the country.
The court has sentenced the offender to six months imprisonment and a fine of AED50,000 for invading the victim’s privacy. As part of the conviction, all photos and recordings related to the incident will be deleted, the device used will be confiscated, and her Twitter account will be permanently closed. Additionally, she has been fined AED10,000 for the offence of insult.
The court granted a stay of execution of the prison sentence for three years from the date on which the judgment becomes final and her expulsion from the country once the sentence has been served.
The Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution took 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.