Sharjah- The Sharjah Public prosecution has registered a case against the admin of a WhatsApp group and its members for allegedly uploading and circulating pornographic videos and photos.
Ali Al Mansouri, lawyer of one the accused, told Gulf News the group admin aged 35 of Arab nationality, uploaded pornographic videos and photos to his group, which included 18 members.
Five members of the group were arrested in addition to the group admin for commenting on the pictures.
All the suspects are of Arab nationality and are in their 30s.
The group admin was charging members in the group for each pornographic picture he posted.
The group was caught after the Sharjah Criminal Investigation Department was tipped off about the illegal activity carried out by the group. The Police then placed the admin under observation.
After verifying the tip was accurate, police arrested the group admin, a Sharjah resident, and registered a case against 18 members of the group. Five of them were arrested while authorities including CID, continue to search for the remaining members.
Several mobile phones containing the alleged incriminating material depicting obscene, indecent and sexually explicit acts have also been recovered during the search operation.
The law
The suspects will be prosecuted under the cybercrime law, Federal Decree-Law No 5 of 2012, article No 17 and 19, which stipulates that “punish anyone who produces, transmits, publishes and exploits through an electronic site gambling and/or pornographic material or any other material that may prejudice public morals. Any person, who establishes, operates or supervises an electronic site and/or transmits, sends or publishes through an electronic site; gambling and/or pornographic materials shall be punished by imprisonment and a fine of not less than Dh250,000 and not exceeding Dh500,000. Further, if the subject of the pornographic content is a juvenile not exceeding eighteen years, or if the content was designed to tempt juveniles, the offender shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not less than one year and a fine not less than Dh500,000 and not exceeding Dh150,000.
Under Article 19, any person who incites or tempts another to commit prostitution using an electronic site shall also be punished by imprisonment and a fine of not less than Dh250,000 and not exceeding Dh1,000,000. The punishment is increased for a period of not less than five year and a fine not exceeding Dh1,000,000 if the victim is a juvenile.
Any person who insults others or has attributed to another an incident that may make him subject to punishment or contempt by others by using an electronic site shall be punished by imprisonment or a fine of not less than Dh250,000 and not exceeding Dh500,000. Insult or slander against public employees is considered an aggravating circumstance of the crime.
