UAE: British citizen faces jail time for “insulting Islam”

“...this sort of incident, if we can even call it that, is ridiculous and should not have even been taken beyond the room it was said. He didn’t insult Islam in any way. It’s stupid.”

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Bikyaamsar
By Sharifa Ghanem | 15 January 2012

DUBAI: A British citizen is reportedly facing a jail sentence for insulting Islam in the United Arab Emirates, media reports said on Saturday.

According to Britain’s Daily Mail, the British man, an engineer based in Abu Dhabi, is said to have “insulted” Islam during a meeting.

The engineer, who has not been named, allegedly told colleagues, “When will we finish with the damn mosques?”

He has now told an appeals court that he did not mean to insult the religion.

Jamila Mohamed, a human rights activist in Dubai, told Bikyamasr.com that the charges are “ridiculous.”

She added that “this sort of incident, if we can even call it that, is ridiculous and should not have even been taken beyond the room it was said. He didn’t insult Islam in any way. It’s stupid.”


The engineer works at the parks and recreation section of the Abu Dhabi municipality. He was in charge of a project to create gardens around a mosque, local newspapers reported.

BM


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