Man fined Dhs50,000 for sending insulting WhatsApp messages to another in Abu Dhabi

Abdulrahman Saeed, Staff Reporter

Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Cases Court obligated a man to pay Dhs50,000 to another, whom he sent insulting messages for 3 times in a row on WhatsApp and bothered him with repeated communications on other means, which caused the victim moral damages.

The details of the case date back to an earlier time when a man filed a lawsuit in which he requested that the appellee be obliged to pay him Dhs120,000, in compensation for the material and moral damages he incurred, in addition to 12% interest from the date of filing the lawsuit until full payment, as well as obligating him to pay the fees and expenses of the lawsuit and lawyer’s fees.

The appellant said that the appellee sent him messages containing insults, which hurt his feelings, and that the Public Prosecution referred him to the Criminal Court, where a criminal ruling was issued against him in absentia, fining him Dhs10,000 for the insult  and Dhs5,000 for the repeated communications. The court also obligated him to pay the expenses of the case.

The appellee was not satisfied with the verdict, so he appealed it. The appellate court accepted the appeal in form, but upheld the verdict.

The appellee sent insulting messages again to the appellant via WhatsApp, so the Public Prosecution referred him to the court, that issued a preliminary criminal ruling in absentia fining him Dhs250,000 for all the charges, and obligated him to pay the lawsuit fees, but he appealed the verdict, and the court accepted the appeal and amended the fine to be Dhs3,000, besides the lawsuit fees.

The appellee appealed the verdict to the Appellate Court, that accepted the appeal, but upheld the verdict and obligated the appellee to pay the lawsuit fees.

The appellee sent messages of insult again to the victim via WhatsApp, so the Public Prosecution referred him to the court, that issued a preliminary criminal ruling in absentia, convicting him, fining him Dhs250,000. the court also terminated the service on his  phone and cancelled the WhatsApp.

He was not satisfied with the ruling, so he appealed it, and the Appellate court accepted the appeal, but upheld the ruling and amended the fine to Dhs10,000 and obligated him to pay the lawsuit fees.

The appellee re-appealed the ruling again to the Appellate Court, that accepted the appeal but upheld the ruling and obligated him to pay the lawsuit fees.

The court explained that the appellee who insulted the appellant and disturbed him with his frequent communications caused him material damage, such as paying court fees and money spent on cases, besides the moral damage.

Accordingly, the court obligated the appellee to pay the victim Dhs50,000 in compensation for all the damages he incurred.