DUBAI: Prosecutors in the United Arab Emirates on Friday announced they had imprisoned a television journalist over apparently leaked pre-match comments made before the Emirates’ tie with Iraq during a World Cup qualifier earlier this month.
Authorities did not identify the journalist they imprisoned from the state-run Abu Dhabi Sports Channel, nor the others fired from the broadcaster over the incident. However, they described the comments made as “harming the public interest and provoking hate speech.”
The comments came before the channel went on air between the match commentators and analysts back at a studio, according to a statement carried by the state-run WAM news agency.
The feed was “hacked and the published clips were seized and broadcast on accounts on some social media sites,” the WAM report said. It said an investigation continued into how the hack took place.
The detained journalist faces charges that carry up to five years in prison and a fine from $1,360 up to $136,000, according to the state-linked newspaper The National in Abu Dhabi.
The Abu Dhabi Sports Channel fired three people involved with the broadcast over the incident, WAM said. The two others were arrested and later released on bail, authorities said.
In the meeting of Dutch coaches, Bert van Marwijk’s United Arab Emirates lineup was held to a 2-2 draw by Dick Advocaat’s Iraq in Dubai on Oct. 12.
The UAE is a nation of autocratic rulers where speech is strictly monitored. Emiratis online have encouraged fellow citizens to report comments critical of the country to law enforcement in the past amid the country’s yearslong boycott of Qatar with other Arab nations. That boycott ended in January. Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Journalist imprisoned over leaked UAE-Iraq pre-game comments
https://arab.news/p376n
Journalist imprisoned over leaked UAE-Iraq pre-game comments
- UAE imprisons TV journalist over leaked comments made before the match against Iraq during a World Cup qualifier
Israeli court overturns conviction of officer who assaulted Palestinian journalist, citing ‘Oct. 7 PTSD’
- Judge sentenced Yitzhak Sofer to 300 hours of community service, saying officer “devoted his life to Israel’s security” and conviction was “disproportionate to severity of his actions”
- Footage shows Sofer throwing photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf to the ground, and repeatedly beating and kicking him while he covered Palestinian gatherings near Al-Aqsa Mosque
LONDON: An Israeli court overturned the conviction of a border police officer who assaulted a Palestinian journalist, ruling his actions were influenced by post-traumatic stress disorder from serving during the Oct. 7 2023 attacks.
On Tuesday, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court sentenced officer Yitzhak Sofer to 300 hours of community service for assaulting Anadolu Agency photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf in occupied East Jerusalem in December 2023.
Footage shows Sofer and other officers drawing weapons, throwing Alkharouf to the ground, and repeatedly beating and kicking him while he covered Palestinian gatherings near Al-Aqsa Mosque amid heavy restrictions.
Alkharouf was hospitalized with facial and body injuries. His cameraman, Faiz Abu Ramila, was also attacked.
Anadolu photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf violently attacked by Israeli army in occupied East Jerusalem while covering Palestinian prayers near Al-Aqsa Mosque
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) December 15, 2023
Incident highlights ongoing restrictions on Friday prayers and press freedom in region https://t.co/exT6XqjEaA pic.twitter.com/pqugK9HnOt
Sofer had been convicted in September 2024 of assault causing bodily harm (acquitted of threats) and initially faced six months’ community service, as recommended by Mahash, the Justice Ministry’s police misconduct unit.
Judge Amir Shaked accepted the defense request to cancel the conviction, replacing it with community service.
He cited Sofer’s PTSD from responding to the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, noting the officer had “no prior criminal record” and had “devoted his life to Israel’s security.”
“The court cannot ignore this when considering whether the defendant’s conviction should stand,” he said, adding that while the incident is “serious and does cross the criminal threshold,” the conviction in place could cause Sofer harm “disproportionate to the severity of his actions.”
The ruling comes amid surging attacks on journalists in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza since Israel’s war on Gaza began.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported Israel responsible for two-thirds of the 129 media workers killed worldwide in 2025, the deadliest year on record, citing a “persistent culture of impunity” and lack of transparent probes.
Reporters Without Borders called the Israeli army the “worst enemy of journalists” in its 2025 report, with nearly half of global reporter deaths in Gaza.
Foreign journalists face raids, arrests and intimidation. In late January 2026, Israel’s Supreme Court granted a delay on ruling a ban on foreign media access to Gaza.
