UAE deports Australian woman for ‘writing bad words’ on Facebook

An Australian woman was deported from Abu Dhabi, UAE after being sent to jail for cyber crimes after “writing bad words on social media”.

Jodi Magi, 39, had posted a photo on Facebook in February of a car illegally parked across two disabled spots. The picture was allegedly accompanied by “insulting, degrading remarks”.

The complaint was made by the vehicle’s owner, a European.

Magi admitted to having posted the photo but denied having written the incriminating text.

In April, Magi was sentenced in absentia to pay a fine of $3,600 and deportation. The 39-year-old then appeared in an Abu Dhabi court on July 12 and spent two days in jail before being deported on Tuesday.

Speaking about her stay in jail, Magi related that she had been shackled at the ankles, strip-searched and made to sleep on a concrete floor with no access to toilet paper or eating utensils.