Dubai: A student has been jailed for three months for creating a Twitter account and posting nude photos of women to promote prostitution.

The 19-year-old Moroccan student handled the Twitter account using two iPhones and a BlackBerry and promoted prostitution in July.

Dubai Police cybercrime officers raided the defendant’s resident in Deira and arrested him in a sting operation following an informant’s tipoff that he had been publishing nude photos of Moroccan women and promoting prostitution.

Citing leniency grounds, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed the defendant for three months due to his age [under 21].

The student had admitted to prosecutors that the Twitter account attracted 9,000 followers and 600 individuals interacted with him.

He pleaded not guilty when he appeared in court.

Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi said the accused will be deported after serving his punishment and the 2 iPhones and BlackBerry devices will be confiscated.

Records said the accused exploited Twitter to post nude photos of women and seduce and encourage men to have paid sex.

A cybercrime police lieutenant said an informant alerted them about the Twitter account that had nude photos of purported prostitutes from Morocco.

“Primary investigation exposed the identity of the student, who had been handling the account. The 19-year-old was arrested in a sting operation immediately after the police located his address,” he said.

The defendant was quoted as admitting to prosecutors that he had been using that Twitter account since he established it three years ago.

He admitted that he posted nude images of women and wrote text promoting paid sex.

“I used that Twitter account to entice men and encourage them to have paid sex. I did not have any women who worked for me but I used to communicate and interact with others and ask them to send me phone credit. I tricked around 300 users and obtained nearly Dh8,000. The account attracted more than 9,000 followers,” he was quoted as saying.

Wednesday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.