UAE | Media
Suspension of Arabic daily upheld
Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal upheld a defamation conviction against Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm, suspending the newspaper for 20 days and fining Editor-in-Chief Sami Al Reyami Dh20,000 in a defamation case raised by Warsan Stables' owners.
- Staff Report
- Published: 23:41 July 1, 2009
Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal upheld a defamation conviction against Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm, suspending the newspaper for 20 days and fining Editor-in-Chief Sami Al Reyami Dh20,000 in a defamation case raised by Warsan Stables' owners.
The case stemmed from an October 2006 article that accused Warsan Stables of giving steroids to horses in an Abu Dhabi race.
Mohammad Yousuf, Chairman of the UAE Journalists' Association, said: "Although we do not have the right to object a court ruling, but 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 for banning newspapers," Yousuf said.
He noted that suspending a newspaper will cause damage to the UAE's reputation at international freedom and human rights organisations, which will take advantage of this ruling to accuse the UAE.
Yousuf expressed hope that the ruling would be suspended and that the newspaper would continue to come out so as to preserve the UAE reputation.
However, there are consultations with supreme bodies to find a solution to this case.
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