A blackmailer who threatened to share intimate images of a former colleague has been brought to justice - after being implicated in a suicide note.
The Pakistani defendant, 23, used pictures he had gained of the worker with another man as leverage to secure an iPhone, Dubai Criminal Court heard.
A Filipino man, who was in the images with the offender's ex-colleague, subsequently took his own life at at a labour accommodation in Al Muhaisnah on July 29, 2017.
Police found a suicide note among his belongings, which stated he had killed himself and detailed the initials of the blackmailer and called on police to arrest him.
An investigation was launched and the deceased's colleague was later arrested in connection with the incident.
He admitted during police questioning that he had used images of the victim that he had in his possession for his own personal gain.
“He (the deceased) had an affair with an Arab man who used to work with me before he resigned and returned to his home country,” said the accused to prosecutors.
“After his return, he sent me intimate pictures of him with the deceased and I used these pictures to blackmail the deceased into buying me an iPhone.”
Prosecutors said the guilty party had threatened to post the images, which he has received in WhatsApp messages, on social media unless he received an iPhone 5s.
He was convicted of issuing threats and blackmail and sentenced to six months in prison.
He will be deported at the end of his sentence.
Forced Deportations
While the Lebanese government has deported a number of refugees back to Syria since 2011, the latest round is the first en-mass campaign of its kind, say the Access Center for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization which monitors the conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
“In the past, the Lebanese General Security was responsible for the forced deportation operations of refugees, after forcing them to sign papers stating that they wished to return to Syria of their own free will. Now, the Lebanese army, specifically military intelligence, is responsible for the security operation,” said Mohammad Hasan, head of ACHR.
In just the first four months of 2023 the number of forced deportations is nearly double that of the entirety of 2022.
Since the beginning of 2023, ACHR has reported 407 forced deportations – 200 of which occurred in April alone.
In comparison, just 154 people were forcfully deported in 2022.
Violence
Instances of violence against Syrian refugees are not uncommon.
Just last month, security camera footage of men violently attacking and stabbing an employee at a mini-market went viral. The store’s employees had engaged in a verbal altercation with the men who had come to enforce an order to shutter shops, following the announcement of a municipal curfew for Syrian refugees.
“They thought they were Syrian,” said the mayor of the Nahr el Bared municipality, Charbel Bou Raad, of the attackers.
It later emerged the beaten employees were Lebanese. But the video was an exemplary instance of violence at a time when anti-Syrian rhetoric is particularly heated as Lebanese politicians call for the return of Syrian refugees to Syria.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Blah
Started: 2018
Founder: Aliyah Al Abbar and Hend Al Marri
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and talent management
Initial investment: Dh20,000
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 40
Company Profile
Company name: EduPloyment
Date started: March 2020
Co-Founders: Mazen Omair and Rana Batterjee
Base: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Recruitment
Size: 30 employees
Investment stage: Pre-Seed
Investors: Angel investors (investment amount undisclosed)
