UAE | Crime
Man accuses ex-boss of Facebook libel
Former employer admits making defamatory comments under photos of restaurant manager
- By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter, Gulf News
- Published: 00:00 December 23, 2009
Dubai: A Lebanese man recounted in court on Tuesday how his ex-boss libelled him on Facebook and claimed he incurred "enormous damages" on what he described as the UAE's primary e-social networking tool.
His former boss, a 26-year-old Syrian, earlier admitted before the Dubai Misdemeanors Court that he cursed and libelled the Lebanese man who formerly managed his restaurant.
"Facebook is the UAE's top electronic social networking tool… more than one million visitors log on Facebook daily. The suspect, A.H., uploaded photos of my brother and me following the restaurant's inauguration in 2008. Earlier this year, my friends phoned me from Beirut and informed me that some slanderous and libelous comments were posted under three pictures of mine on the restaurant's Facebook group. The suspect, who posted the comments, called me bad names such as thief and stupid," the Lebanese claimant, A.R., told Presiding Judge Ebrahim Khalil Abu Shamma yesterday.
A.H., a business partner, admitted cursing and defaming A.R. When the judge confronted the suspect with the charges, the defendant said: "Your Honour, please let me explain what happened. I had a partnership with his brother in a restaurant … later I discovered that he was stealing the money from the cashier. He also used to inform customers that the restaurant had been sold and that I had nothing to do with the restaurant anymore. His behaviour provoked me and that's why I posted the comments on Facebook."
Dubai Police's Combating E-crime Section summoned him for questioning over the incident.
The trial continues.
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