UAE orders imprisonment of 4 Arabs for insulting Asians

The UAE Public Prosecution issued an order to arrest and bring four accused of Arab nationalities who insulted the members of an Asian community.

The authorities began their investigations and ordered them to be held in pretrial detention based on the report presented by the authority to the UAE Attorney General.

The report included the spread of videos on social media, in which the four young men mocked members of an Asian community. The acts constitute crimes of assaulting the integrity of others, assaulting the privacy of persons using information technology, and breaching public morals.

Jail term and fines

The UAE Public Prosecution has clarified the penalties for crimes of libel or insult through the telephone under the UAE Federal Penal Code.

The Public Prosecution said that: ''According to Article 374 of the Federal Penal Code, shall be subject to a jail sentence for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding Dhs5000 in case the libel or insult takes place through the telephone or facing the victim in the presence of others.

“The penalty shall be a fine not exceeding Dhs5000 if the libel or insult takes place facing the victim without the presence of a third party or in a letter dispatched to him by any means whatsoever.”

Shall be considered an aggravating circumstance if the libel or insult, in the instances stated in the two foregoing paragraphs, is addressed to a public servant or a person in charge of a public service, during or because of discharging his duties or performing his service, or if affecting his honour or the reputation of the families, or if expected to reach an illicit objective.''

The Federal Public Prosecution said the publication of this video post underlines its keenness to promote the legal culture among members of the community and raise their awareness of related laws in order to reduce violations resulting from ignorance of laws.