Web writer and site administrator sentenced to five months in prison
(HRinfo/IFEX) – HRINFO has expressed deep concern over a new sentence passed by the Ras Kheima court against writer Khalid El-Asly, of the Majan website ( http://www.majan.net ), and the site’s head administrator Muhammed Shouhi. Both were sentenced to five months in prison. This is the second case launched against the website. A further two […]
Website writer charged for “defamation” released; site administrator still detained despite being allowed bail
(HRinfo/IFEX) – HRinfo welcomes today the decision of the Ras Kheima criminal court to free Internet activist Khalid El-Asly without requiring him to post bail following his arrest for defamation over an essay he allegedly wrote on Majan.net. The head of the Ras Kheima medical department filed a lawsuit against El-Asly, accusing the writer of […]
Website closed, its administrator sentenced to prison, one of its writers detained
(HRinfo/IFEX) – On 21 August 2007, HRinfo noted that the harsh sentence issued by Ras Kheima criminal court in U.A.E. against the head administrator of Majan website ( http://www.majan.net ) greatly threatens freedom of expression in the U.A.E.. On 8 August Muhammed Rashid Shouhi was sentenced to one year in prison, and instructed to pay […]
Human rights advocates harassed by authorities
(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a Human Rights Watch press release: UAE: End Harassment of Rights Defenders (New York, October 5, 2006) – The authorities in the United Arab Emirates should end their harassment of some of the country’s most prominent human rights defenders and give their organizations the legal recognition they have sought, Human […]
Freelance journalist arrested briefly, passport taken, for writing about moustaches
(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has called for the immediate return of freelance journalist V. M. Sathish’s passport that was confiscated when he was briefly arrested in Dubai on 13 December 2005 for allegedly libelling a jewellery chain by reporting that it ordered its employees to shave off their beards and moustaches. “It is absolutely […]
Dubai-based journalist harassed, detained
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: United Arab Emirates: Dubai-based journalist harassed, detained New York, June 17, 2005 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the harassment and brief detention of Bassma al-Jandaly, a reporter with the Dubai-based, English-language daily Gulf News. Immigration officers detained al-Jandaly at Dubai’s international airport as she […]
Sheikh Al-Ali, writer on Islamic law, reportedly detained; home searched and books seized
Gulf States human rights monitors report that Sheikh Al-Ali, the author of a number of books on Islamic law, was arrested on 16 January 1995 and that his home was searched and books seized. Arabic newspapers suggest he may have been arrested for the expression of his views on Islam, or for his criticism of […]