Attorney General says cases against gov't official, man who videoed attack have been dropped
Dubai's Attorney General said on Sunday that the cases against a government official accused of assaulting a van driver and the man who videoed the incident have been dropped.
Essam Al Humaidan, head of Dubai Public Prosecution, said in comments published by news agency WAM that the Indian expat and Emirati will be released after the complaints against them were withdrawn.
Al Humaidan said the van driver had waived his rights, as had the family of the Emirati suspect, and both cases had been closed.
Prosecutors had originally accused the first defendant of "physical assault" and the second defendant of "posting a video online with intent to cause damage".
The Emirati suspect, who works as a manager at a government department, was arrested after footage of a road rage incident was posted on YouTube.
The video of the attack – seen by thousands of people globally – was uploaded on Youtube.
It showed a senior Emirati government official brutally attacking an Indian driver after an apparent accident in Dubai.
The Indian was later arrested after the Emirati's family complained that the expat had acted illegally by filming people in a public place without their permission.
Al Humaidan also urged people to hand over video evidence of suspected crimes to the police and not publish it on the web.
This was publishing of a criminal act - it was NEVER a case of defamation - as the accused beat the Indian guy in full glare of the public. There is NO denying it, ans I was shocked to see it being packaged as a "defamation" case.
Guess not many people know what defamation really means. They could have Googled it.
Great news- jailing the video uploader really sent out the wrong message!
These things will happen from time to time- this will not be the last incident in such a fast developing nation under public scrutiny.
As an investor in Dubai, all I really want to hear is that you condemn the act and put in measures to at least try to stop it happening again.
I doubt social media will ever be controllable and hey we are all adults- we know bad things happen in every country!
(pls allow my full post to be published :))
Sadly the UAE has a completely different concept of defamation. As far as the UAE's law is concerned, this was defamation. As far as I – and I know many of AB's readers – are concerned, some within in the UAE legal system need a dictionary.
Money talks
All is well that ends well. Good to see happy endings instead of drawing it too long like in sub-continent & some western countries court cases it happens without any real benefit (except of course for the lawyers). For many people suing is surreal and pleasure while actually is sickening since justice delayed is denied. Hope all of them got a good lesson and will be careful next time.
Whaaaaat.....? The rape case made the headlines and certainly didn't help with the positive PR. And now this! So, the locals are allowed to beat the foreigners without any consequences in Dubai? A great way to promote the destination!
ridiculous. A man bet another man in public, is released without any punishment. Another man tried to generate proof to help the situation, got punishment unnecessarily. We consider, Dubai a safe place to live, but the example is in line with the image.
If I remember correctly the Indian van driver ( who was beaten ) had not lodged any complaint. So what complaint did he withdraw ? If I also remember correctly the police chief had said that they arrested the Emarati of their own accord after seeing the video, as a law had been broken. So it seems it is the police who have let off the Emarati, - nothing to do with the driver who was beaten.
And the guy who took the video was let off after the hue and cry from the public , and created the basis on which the Emarati could also be freed without generating a lot of negative reaction. How convenient. But every one know what happened here. The question now is will the authorities amend or suspend Article 372 ? That is a 64 million dollar questions.
Undoubtedly, some human and civil rights organisation has downloaded copies of this video and it will just keep getting regurgitated as a reminder and reference, should any other demeaning incident of note or injustice occur in the future.
So in the end no amount of money or intervention can make these incidents go away entirely, they become just another member of the litany. Because as you will note, that every time newspapers get a hold of the latest Dubai bad press incident and run with the story, the article refers to all the high profile incidents that have ever gone before! Simple but effective technique.
Its another example for different kinds of law for different kind of people. It's really shame on those who are ruling & the whole police department. But nobody never escape from GOD's judgment. Because for GOD, there is no crown & common people.
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