Hate speech messages land Asian employee in Dubai jail

Sohaila Ahmed, Staff Reporter

An Asian employee, 58 years old, was apprehended and prosecuted by the Dubai Public Prosecution, for sending hate speech texts that discriminates between religions to his work colleagues.

The incident dates back to May 2020, when employees of a motors company had filed a police report against the defendant, claiming that he was spreading hate speech ideas in their work environment.

One of the employees testified that he had received text messages from the defendant through WhatsApp, application, and the content of such messages was full of hate speech and discrimination ideas between communities of different religions.

The defendant’s colleagues complained that those messages had hurt their feelings as Muslims, and that they encourage people of other religions to despise Islam.
The defendant was prosecuted and referred to the criminal court on hate-crime charges.

The UAE Public Prosecution recently published a video on its social media accounts to raise awareness on the penalties regarding the possession and distribution of material that incites racial, religious and cultural hatred.

The Public Prosecution warned that the penalty according to Article 12 of Federal Decree-Law No 2 of 2015 on Combatting Discrimination and Hatred, for the "possession and distribution of documents, publications and recordings that provoke hatred" is imprisonment for a period not less than one year, and a fine of no less that Dhs50,000 and not exceeding Dhs200,000.

It added that acquiring or possessing documents, publications, recordings, movies, tapes, discs, software, smart applications, etc that offend religions, incite discrimination or contain hate speech, with the intent to distribute or make accessible to the public, will also be punishable by law.

"The same punishment shall apply to any person who acquires or possesses any means of printing, recording, storage, sound or visual recording devices or other means of publication, broadcasting or promotional materials that are used, with knowledge, in the commission of any of the crimes set forth in the present Federal Decree," it said.

The Public Prosecution added that the UAE is keen to promote a culture of tolerance, and will continue to crack down on racism and discrimination; including ethnic, religious and cultural discrimination.