ABU DHABI// A man who used social media to insult the UAE and its President has been jailed for five years by the Federal Supreme Court.
Abdulla Saeed Al Dhanhani, 28, an Emirati, set up Twitter and Instagram accounts where he published support for the Muslim Brotherhood.
He also tweeted that the UAE was fighting “the pious Muslim woman and the hijab” and claimed the country had links to terrorism.
He also publicly insulted UAE President Sheikh Khalifa on Instagram.
His lawyer, Hamdan Al Zeyoodi, claimed his client did not commit a crime by joining the online social media networks. He added the defendant did not know anything about the Muslim Brotherhood and his comments had been taken out of context.
On Monday, Judge Mohammed Al Jarrah Al Tenaiji also ordered the defendant pay a fine of Dh1 million and the confiscation of all his electronic devices.
aalkhoori@thenational.ae