Abu Dhabi: Government employee jailed for revealing secrets from his work on social media

The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court has convicted a government employee of disclosing secrets he has been informed of by virtue of his work and has published them through social media. The court sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment for disclosing secrets, accessing an information system and exceeding the limits of his license, in addition to closing his accounts on social networking sites, he was also sentenced to one year imprisonment for the charge of escaping after his arrest.

Investigations by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Abu Dhabi revealed that the accused entered the electronic information system beyond the limits  granted to him, copied information about a subject he had seen during his job duties, and published it on social networking sites. He also added information contrary to reality intended to draw the attention of his followers.

The Attorney General of Abu Dhabi explained that the law enforces the protection of secrets of the workplace and not be leaking them or using them for personal purposes, pointing out that the use of social media requires caution against exceeding the limits of the law, or lurking for followers, aiming to raise public opinion in society.