UAE jails man after social media reports on father in prison

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An Emirati court Tuesday 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 militants.

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 United Arab Emirates (UAE) identified the man as Osama Hussain al-Najjar.

Serving a 10-year term, his father was among dozens of militants 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 500,000-dirham ($136,124) fine under the ruling, which is final.

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