ABU DHABI: An Emirati court yesterday sentenced a local man to three years in jail after he posted social media reports on the imprisonment of his father, convicted along with dozens of other Islamists.
A state security court convicted the defendant for “creating a page on a social network under his own name to spread false information and ideas, and to mock and damage the reputation and status of state institutions,” said the official news agency WAM.
Media in the UAE identified the man as Osama Hussain Al Najjar.
Serving a 10-year term, his father was among dozens of Islamists convicted last year for membership of Al-Islah Society, viewed as the UAE branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Local media said the son had used Twitter and Facebook to spread information.
He was charged with “contacting foreign organisations and providing false information on the conditions of convicts” imprisoned for their links to Al Islah.
Najjar will also have to pay a Dh500,000 ($136,124) fine under the ruling, which is final. Amnesty International swiftly condemned the sentencing. “With this vindictive conviction following a charade of a trial, the UAE authorities have again made crystal clear that when they don’t like the message, their first line of defence is to smear and silence the messenger,” said Boumedouha, Amnesty’s deputy regional head.
The UAE this month released a long list of what it branded “terrorist organisations”, topped by Al Islah and the Muslim Brotherhood.
AFP
