An Asian man imprisoned for destroying properties owned by a government organization

The Public Prosecution Office in Abu Dhabi has ordered the detention of a young Asian man, following the spread of a video clip on social media, showing him while destroying public property owned by one of a government organization branches located in Abu Dhabi.

The Abu Dhabi Prosecution had received a complaint from the aggrieved organization, following the spread of a video clip on social media, in which the defendant appears to be destroying materials placed by the organization in one of its facilities to serve its customers. The video also shows the logo of the organization, which is considered by the claimant as defamation of its facilities. The claimant managed through its surveillance cameras, to define the location and time of the incident and the specifications of the defendant’s car.

On its part, the Public Prosecution Office in Abu Dhabi stated that the accused man was bragging his act of destroying the materials owned by the government organisations, which may encourage others to do such irresponsible behaviors, that reflect nothing but recklessness and disrespect for public property.

The act made by the accused person is criminalized in accordance with the Federal Penal Code, Article 424 “anyone who destroys or damages a property owned by others, whether movable or immovable, causing this property to be defective or useless in any way, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year and a fine not exceeding ten thousand dirhams, or by one of these two penalties.
Article 46 of the Decree-Law No. 5 of 2012 on Combating Cybercrimes states that the use of information network, the internet, or any other technology means when committing any crime not provided for in this Decree-Law shall be considered an aggravating circumstance.