- Mansoor, 49, was handed the prison term in May by a lower court
- He was convicted of attempting to harm the UAE’s relations with its neighbors by spreading misinformation on social media
DUBAI: A UAE court upheld a 10-year jail sentence on Monday against a man accused of insulting the state.
The ruling by the Federal Supreme Court is final and cannot be appealed and the court also confirmed a fine of AED1 million ($270,000), state news agency WAM reported.
Ahmed Mansoor, 49, was handed the prison term in May by a lower court after he was convicted of attempting to harm the UAE’s image and reputation by spreading misinformation in posts on Facebook and Twitter.
He was however cleared of conspiring with a “terrorist organization,” local media reported at the time.
During Mansoor’s detention, the prosecutor accused him of using social media to “publish false information and rumors, spread tendentious ideas that would sow sedition, sectarianism and hatred,” WAM reported.
He was also accused of harming “national unity and social peace” and “the state’s reputation.”
Mansoor was part of a group of five who were convicted in 2011 and released later that year after a presidential pardon.