Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Misdemeanour Court fined an Arab employee Dhs5,000 and ordered his mobile phone to be confiscated on charges of libelling his co-worker.

The defendant sent insulting messages via WhatsApp to his co-worker containing abusive phrases and fraud charges over a dispute between them.

According to the official documents, an employee filed a complaint in which he stated that he was insulted by his co-worker.

The complainant stated that he received messages via WhatsApp from his co-worker, who insulted him and concluded his last message with the phrase ‘Thank you, swindler.’

On interrogation, the defendant admitted that he had sent insulting messages to the victim over an earlier dispute between them.

During the court session, however, the defendant affirmed that he did not mean to offend his co-worker, while his lawyer submitted a memorandum in which he requested the intention of insult to be denied.

The court believed that the message that the defendant sent to the victim via WhatsApp where he described him as swindler was outrageous in itself because it contained insult and would make the victim a subject of contempt by others.