Dubai court acquits man of insulting brother's wife

Dubai Court of Appeal, due to insufficient evidence, overturned a first-instance court ruling that convicted an Arab man of insulting his brother's wife and calling her a scorpion on WhatsApp, following disputes between the wife and her husband's family.

The wife filed a criminal complaint accusing her brother-in-law of posting offensive and disrespectful statements via the “status” feature in WhatsApp application, where he said, "How beautiful life is without my brother's wife," and "How beautiful homes are without scorpions."

The plaintiff considered it an explicit insult and contempt for her, affecting her dignity and reputation.

The court of first instance punished the suspect with a fine of Dhs5,000 and confiscated the phone used, and ordered the deletion of the phrases in question, but the suspect appealed the ruling before the Court of Appeal, denying that he had issued those phrases, and adhering to the absence of the elements of the crime, as the circulating pictures can be fabricated or manipulated.

The electronic forensic report stated that it was not possible to prove the status of the images in question, as they were published through the status feature that automatically disappears after 24 hours and no saved content or digital messages containing the phrases in question were found.

The court also noted there were family disputes between the parties, which cast doubt on the integrity of the accusation, and concluded that the evidence presented does not rise to the level of certainty, which necessitates the annulment of the appealed ruling and the acquittal.