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October 24, 2022
The commission said there could be an option of a fine of between approximately $69,000 and $137,000 or both jail term and fine under the UAE laws.
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has said that Ms Dunchi Lar, a Nigerian woman jailed in the United Arab Emirates over the Twitter post on how Nigerians were Illegally detained at Dubai Airport, committed a cybercrime punishable with a one-year jail term.
The commission said there could be an option of a fine of between approximately $69,000 and $137,000 or both jail term and fine under the UAE laws.
This was contained in a statement released by the Head of the Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit NiDCOM, Abdur-Rahman Balogun on Sunday.
The commission urged Dunchi Lar to appeal against her conviction, assuring her that the Nigerian Government would give her all the needed support.
The statement reads: “The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission 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.
“She was sentenced on the 12th of October 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,” the statement added.
On 31st August, @dunchichi posted on Twitter how she was detained along with some other Nigerians despite possessing a valid visa.
"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," she wrote.
But another user, @jerrydoubles, who claimed to be her relative, on Saturday announced that @dunchichi had been sent to jail for an offence relating to her earlier post in Dubai.
He said, "It is sad and regrettably heartrending to tell you all that @dunchichi was sentenced on 12th Oct 22, to 1yr in jail in Dubai. Her family are devastated and Nigeria didn't save her."
"Her sentence came from the backdrop that she got a family visa to travel. But in fact, she was there with her sister. It got messy & complicated, she was released on arrival after being detained for several hours, only to be sentenced when she was returning to Nigeria.
"They are capitalising on the fact that she made a video then posted them on her Twitter timeline to narrate the ordeal. They said it's cybercrime in their country. She went ahead to delete it. Still, that didn't soften them. Now she is jailed #justicefordinci."
He further added that her family were planning to protest her conviction at the Dubai consulate office in Abuja.
"If you stay in Abuja or know someone who does and would love to join us," his tweet added.
In a related development, SaharaReporters also reported that the United Arab Emirates government last Friday announced a visa ban on Nigerians, adding that all submitted applications had been rejected and that fees paid were non-refundable.
The ban was announced in a notice issued by UAE immigration authorities to its trade partners in Nigeria including travel agencies.
Re:Nigerian jailed in UAE over violation of cyber crime law
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission 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...
— Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (@nidcom_gov) October 23, 2022