DUBAI, 2 October 2007 — A website owner jailed for defamation in the United Arab Emirates has been freed on bail but it was unclear yesterday if charges against him, which have raised concerns among rights groups, would be dropped.
Mohammad Rashed Al-Shehhi, owner of the popular website majan.net, was released on bail Sunday in the emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah on instructions from the emirate’s crown prince, his lawyer Abdullah Omran said.
Shehhi had been in jail since August and was sentenced to a total of 17 months imprisonment in two defamation cases involving local officials. His website, which focused on local issues in UAE member Ras Al-Khaimah, was closed.
He is appealing two jail sentences — of one year and five months respectively — and faces two more suits related to the website, according to his lawyer.
A family member said Shehhi was freed on bail of a brother’s passport, but with strings attached on how the Internet site would eventually operate in future.
Another UAE national, Khaled Al-Asli, has been sentenced to five months in jail in connection with an article that appeared on the site under a pen name allegedly slandering a local official.
Asli, who is free on bail, denies writing the article and is appealing.
The case has aroused interest because the charges relate to public criticism of officials.
But Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum decreed last week that journalists should not be jailed over their work and that other measures should be taken against violators.
His widely applauded move came shortly after two Dubai-based foreign journalists working for the English-language daily Khaleej Times were sentenced to two months for libeling an Iranian woman.
They have since been released on bail and a hearing in their appeal is scheduled for Oct. 25.
It is still not known if the order not to jail journalists will apply to electronic sites. The sentences against Shehhi and Asli have drawn criticism from media and rights watchdogs such as Paris-based Reporters Without Borders and the Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo).
Following the order by Sheikh Mohammed, who is also ruler of Dubai, a booming emirate that hosts scores of regional and international news organizations, there have been calls in the press for closing the website case and lifting bans on writing in local newspapers against some political analysts.
