UAE | Media
Arabic daily defies court ban
Newspaper continues to publish despite 20-day suspension order.
- Staff Report
- Published: 23:26 July 3, 2009
Dubai: Arabic daily newspaper Emarat Al Youm is continuing to publish, despite a Federal High Court ruling upholding a 20-day ban.
The defamation conviction suspended the newspaper for 20 days with its editor-in-chief Sami Al Reyami fined Dh20,000, in a case raised by the owners of Warsan Stables.
The case stemmed from an article published in October 2006 accusing Warsan Stables of giving steroids to horses during a race in Abu Dhabi.
Mohammad Yousuf, Chairman of the UAE Journalists' Association, earlier told Gulf News: "Although we do not have the right to object a court ruling, we reiterate our rejection of banning the newspaper or any other local newspaper from publishing. We also reaffirm our previous stances against the currently applied law, which was issued in 1980, and the new media activities law, which was approved by the Federal National Council (FNC), because these laws curb the freedom of the press and journalists and allow the banning of newspapers."
New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has supported the newspaper and objected to the ruling.
Yousuf expressed hope that the ruling would be suspended and the newspaper would be allowed to publish. In a statement, HRW also called for the UAE's draft media law to be revised.
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