UAE court acquits American charged with insulting country

An American woman who was charged with insulting the United Arab Emirates in public has been acquitted after she was shown to be “mentally ill.”

The 25-year-old was facing trial at Federal Supreme court for verbally insulting the UAE and its leaders at the Abu Dhabi International Airport – a charge she denied.

The judge ordered a psychological evaluation, which showed that the defendant was mentally ill, The National reported.

A medical report “proved that she was not responsible for her act at the time of the offence,” official news agency WAM said.

She had been in jail since February 23 and refused the services of a lawyer arranged by her parents through the US embassy.

The accused told the court that she was waiting for a taxi at the Abu Dhabi airport when two men approached her.

“The men tried to help me. I had another flight to catch at 1:29am. I refused to engage with them and nothing happened,” she said.

The court ordered the woman to be be deported.

Also read: Man faces deportation from UAE for ‘insulting friend’ on WhatsApp

The UAE has very strict rules about “insulting the country” either verbally or on cyberspace.

In March, a man was sentenced to jail and fined by the Federal Supreme Court after he was found guilty of insulting the country on messaging service WhatsApp.

The Gulf national, S.M.S, was charged with “disseminating information with a view to ridicule and damage the reputation of the state symbols”. He also allegedly ridiculed Emirati soldiers killed in Yemen, describing them as ‘cowards’ on WhatsApp.

The man was sentenced to three years in prison and fined Dhs 50,000. He will be deported after serving his jail term in the country.

Also read:British national to serve three-year jail term for assaulting Emirati