The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has said Nigerian lady jailed in by United Arab Emirates (UAE) for “recording and circulating “offensive” video on social media” has right to appeal her conviction.NIDCOM made this known it in a press statement titled: Re: Nigerian jailed in UAE over violation of cyber crime law by the Head of Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Sunday in Abuja.
The Nigeria lady was sentenced to one year in prison over a Twitter post on how Nigerians were illegally detained at Dubai Airport.
The lady identified as @dunchichi on Twitter had on August 31, 2022, posted on how she was detained, alongside other Nigerians despite possessing a valid visa.
Her post read: “I’m at Dubai International Airport and myself and some tiger Nigerians with valid Visas are being held in a room hours after arriving with no explain and no information on what we can do. Please help me. There’s more than 20 of us.”
However, NIDCOM in its statement noted that, “NIDCOM hereby gives more clarification on the case of a Nigerian lady, Ms Dunchi Lar who was convicted under United Arab Emirates laws for recording and circulating “offensive” video on social media.
“Under the UAE cyber crime law, taking a video or photograph of someone without his/her consent and posting such on social media is an offence punishable with one year jail term or a fine of between approximately $69,000 and $137,000 or both jail term and fine.
“Ms Lar made and tweeted the viral video of the UAE official at the Airport. This law also applies to eavesdropping, recording, photographing, or disclosing audio or video communication of a person without his/her permission, taking photographs or videos of a dead person or accident victim without such person’s consent.”
According to the commission, “She was sentenced on the October 12 and has 15 days to appeal the judgment. Ms Dunchi Lar can still appeal the ruling and has been assured of moral and consular support by the Nigerian Mission in Dubai.”