4 jailed in Abu Dhabi for tweeting tribal instigation and libel

Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution ordered the detention of four people on charge of tribal instigation and libel through Twitter. Three Emirati men and a Palestinian woman will stay in prison for 14 days pending investigations.

The incident took place last April following a heated discussion between the Palestinian woman and the three Emirati men. The discussion got further hotter and turned into trading of insults and offences and a tribal instigation and accusation.

A member of one tribe whose name was targeted in the heated disparagement made a complaint with the Public Prosecution against the woman. The four defendants were detained for two weeks to complete investigations.

Commenting on the arrest, an official from the office of Abu Dhabi Attorney General said some people took such type of behaviour lightly.

"Some people do not understand the grave consequences of their conducts on social networking sites or over the Internet in general. Such actions like libel and instigation are completely outlawed whether committed in the real world or the virtual one. This is especially true for those who think that it will be difficult for authorities to detect them," he said.

“That is completely untrue. Detecting those who make such actions, like stealing email addresses, are extremely easy and quick tasks. There are no problems facing authorities in combating such conducts. Moreover, ignorance of laws is not at all a waiver of legal responsibility," he added.

The official stressed that no one can get with his or her cybercrime and that penalties can reach three years of imprisonment.