Public Prosecution: Imprisonment and AED250,000 fine for electronic extortion

The Public Prosecution, through a tweet published today on its social media account, clarified the penalty for the crime of electronic extortion.

In accordance with the Article 16 of the Federal Decree-Law No.5 of 2021, concerning the combatting of IT crimes, “Whoever blackmails or threatens another person to urge him to perform an act or to refrain from performing an act using the World Wide Web or means on information technology shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a duration of not more than two years and/or fined a monetary penalty of not less than AED250,000 and not more than AED500,000.

“The penalty shall be imprisonment for a duration of not more than ten years if the threat is a threat to commit a crime or to commit acts that are offensive to honour or status,” Public Prosecution stated