Khaleej Times journalists acquitted

Two journalists from UAE daily Khaleej Times have been acquitted by an appeal judge who overturned an earlier two-month jail sentence handed down for libel.

The newspaper's former editor Prem Chandran and reporter Mohsen Rashed, were cleared by the Dubai Court of Appeal after their lawyer successfully argued that it is the duty of journalists to report the truth and inform the public without any constraints.

The two journalists were given jail sentences in September after an Iranian woman sued them for a report that said she had tried to bank a cheque that her husband had paid her as part of a divorce settlement. The cheque bounced, landing her former husband in court.

But Khaleej Times ran the story under the headline: "Man tricked by wife to issue dud cheque," suggesting that the wife was at fault and leading to the libel lawsuit.

It is highly unusual for journalists to be jailed in the UAE for simple libel cases. Fines are a more common form of punishment.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said recently that journalists should not be jailed for matters arising from the normal course of doing their jobs.

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