Man fined Dhs15,000 for blackmailing woman via Snapchat

Aya El Deeb, Staff Reporter

The Abu Dhabi Court for Family and Civil and Administrative Cases obligated a man to pay a woman Dhs15,000 in compensation for the damages she incurred, after he breached her privacy and took pictures of her which he published on the social networking app “Snapchat”, and commented on them.

When she reportedly asked him to delete the pictures, he refused.

The complainant filed a lawsuit, in which she demanded that the appellee pay her Dhs50,000 in compensation for the material and moral damages she incurred, besides paying the fees and expenses and the lawyer’s fees.

The complainant indicated in her lawsuit, that the incident was considered before the Criminal Court that convicted the appellee and fined him Dhs10,000 for extortion using information technology, and Dhs20,000 for assaulting the privacy of the appellant using information technology.

The court also prevented the appellee from using information network for 3 months.

The court pointed out that when the appellee appealed the criminal ruling, the criminal court acquitted him of the charge of extortion, while upheld his conviction for assaulting the appellant's privacy.

The court also indicated that the complainant submitted a certificate proving that the penal judgment was final, pointing out that the complainant suffered material and moral damage, and then obligated the appellee to pay her Dhs15,000 in compensation for the material and moral damages incurred, and obliged him to pay the fees and expenses of the lawsuit.