Student in Dubai has Dh500,000 fine added to three-month sentence for blasphemy

Dubai Court of Appeal added a Dh500,000 fine to a university student’s three-month jail sentence for making blasphemous statements in public.

The Jordanian, 24, made the comments on campus during an argument with a fellow student who had confronted him about molesting his fiancee.

Prosecutors told Dubai Criminal Court that he made foul comments against God on January 22.

The Jordanian was charged with blasphemy, harassing a female student and issuing threats, all of which he denied in court.

“She told me she could send me to jail so I just responded to what she said, telling her that we are in a country of law and that she would be jailed for threatening me,” the man told judges.

The female student, 23, also from Jordan, told the court she was with her friend at university when the man began harassing her.

“I asked him to stop and walked away but he followed us and started walking around me in circles,” she said. “He then stood uncomfortably close to me so that I got really embarrassed.

“When I stepped aside to move away from him, he again came towards me spreading his arms wide to hug me,” she said.

She argued with him while her friend rushed to the cafeteria to tell the victim’s fiance.

“I took him aside and started talking to him politely about his reasons for following my fiancee around but he pushed me, then started cursing and saying extremely inappropriate things about Allah,” said the victim’s fiance, 23.

He said he asked the Jordanian to calm down then walked him to a nearby car park to talk, but he went back to harass the victim.

“I will send you to jail. I have not yet hurt you but I will soon,” he told the woman

Dubai Criminal Court sentenced him to three months in jail to be followed by deportation, against which he appealed, requesting that he be acquitted of all charges.

The court rejected his request, upheld his jail sentence and deportation and ordered him to pay a Dh500,000 fine.