Brit fined by Dubai court for calling colleague Bin Laden supporter
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A 31-year-old British woman has been fined £500 by a Dubai court for calling a colleague a “Bin Laden supporter” on Facebook.
The ex-pat was convicted on July 25 on charges of insulting Islam after she accused her Muslim co-worker of being a fan of the deceased head of Al-Qa’ida.
The woman’s [named only as EL in court proceedings] Egyptian ex-colleague accused her of disrespecting Islam and Ramadan when she posted a series of disparaging remarks on the social networking site. According to court documents the 34-year-old victim, named as MJ, said EL branded her a “dictator” and an “Ayatollah” when they worked together at a logistics firm.
One status update read: “Ah, that’s better. Ayatollah has been deleted from my friends list. Anyone else a Bin Laden supporter, please raise your hand.”
In another comment she said: “If ignorance is bliss, then I am happy. But my Facebook wall is not a place for your dictatorial religious behaviour.”
The court heard how a row began with the two exchanging insults which also saw her taking pot shots at Ramadan. Finally, MJ called police after EL wrote on her wall: “I hope that depriving yourself of food and water would have an effect on your inner spirit and maybe some day you would be more open-minded.
“You could live in a close-minded country…where freedom isn’t allowed.”
“She probably misunderstood what I was telling her.” EL, accused of insulting a religious creed, said.
She admitted expressing a dislike of Ramadan but denied insulting Islam. She told the court: “I did not insult Islam, I did not call her stupid or close-minded, and I did not say she was a dictator.”
But a police officer told prosecutors: “She said in her statement that she did not like the woman commenting on her page and chatting with her, because she said she was a fundamentalist.”
Prosecution records revealed EL also filed papers against MJ claiming she had insulted her by saying she had “no religion”.
Source: Muslim News
