Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution orders jail for Asian man who destroyed public property

ABU DHABI, The Public Prosecution Office in Abu Dhabi has ordered the detention of a young Asian man after a video clip released on social media showed him destroying public property owned by the branch of a government organisation in Abu Dhabi.

The Abu Dhabi Prosecution had received a complaint from the aggrieved organisation, following the release of the video clip on social media, in which the defendant was seen to destroy material placed by the organisation in one of its facilities that serve its customers. The video also shows the logo of the organisation, which was considered by the claimant as defamation of its facilities. The claimant managed through its surveillance cameras, to define the location and time of the incident and the specifications of the defendant’s car.

The Public Prosecution Office in Abu Dhabi stated that the accused was bragging about his act of destroying the material, which could encourage others to do similar acts.

The act of the accused was criminalised under the Federal Penal Code, Article 424 “anyone who destroys or damages a property owned by others, whether movable or immovable, causing this property to be defective or useless in any way, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year and a fine not exceeding AED10,000, or by one of these two penalties.”

Article 46 of the Decree-Law No. 5 of 2012 on Combatting Cybercrimes states that the use of the information network, the internet, or any other means of technology when committing a crime not provided for in this Decree-Law will be considered an aggravating circumstance.

Source: Emirates News Agency