UAE court sentences American over video
Shezanne Cassim has received a guilty verdict after eight months in custody for creating a parody video of Dubai youth.
A court in the United Arab Emirates has found guilty and sentenced an American man to one year in prison for creating a parody video about Dubai youth, a UAE paper and family spokeswoman said.
The gulf country’s State Security Court issued sentences to Shezanne Cassim and seven other defendants on Monday, according to Abu Dhabi-based newspaper, The National.
The paper only mentioned the American by his initials and said he also faces a $2,725 fine and will be deported after his sentence is served.
National security issue
Cassim’s co-defendants were not named, but will serve between eight months and one year.
A spokeswoman for Cassim’s family, Jennifer Gore, confirmed the guilty verdict and sentence but had no other details.
Cassim was charged with endangering the UAE’s national security under a federal cyber crimes law.
The video he created shows Dubai teens wearing hip-hop clothes and listening to rap music.
Cassim was in police custody for eight months before receiving his sentence.