Two youths insult man on social media in UAE, fined up to Dh250,000

Abu Dhabi - One of the accused appealed against the ruling.

Two young man have been heavily fined for insulting a man on social media in UAE.
The young men were fined Dh500,000 after the Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance found them guilty of sending insulting messages to another person on Snapchat.
According to a report in Al Khaleej, the public prosecution received a request submitted by a man, after he received two messages containing insults - while he was recording a video of a new perfume store.
The victim saved the account names of the perpetrators and their offensive messages on a flash drive for the prosecution, adding that that he didn't know their real identities.
The video message and voice note insulted the man by calling him silly.
Investigation by the public prosecution identified the persons behind the messages and accused them of insulting the victim on a social media platform.
The accused confirmed their accounts, but denied all accusations.
On the USB, the public prosecution found a video of the first accused man insulting the victim, and his face appeared when he was saying "Khamam Wallah Khamam", and the voice note sent by the second accused person said "Bayekh", which means silly.
The Court of First Instance fined them Dh250,000 each and seized their mobile phones.
The two accused appealed against the ruling, however the Abu Dhabi Appeals Court rejected their appeal.
Additionally, the first accused man challenged the ruling again before the Court of Cassation, which accepted the request and scheduled a hearing.
The Cassation Court found that the content of the messages is insulting, yet it revised the sentence to Dh10,000 fine for the first accused man.

• Abu Dhabi