Man denies blackmailing ex-fiancee with nude video clips, Dubai court hears

Man, who prosecutors say demanded Dh15,000 from ex-fiancee, denies blackmail, saying that the woman became jealous over his new fiancee after they broke up.

DUBAI // A man blackmailed his ex-fiancee by threatening to post pictures of her naked online, a court heard today.

The man took the pictures and two movie clips of the woman while they were engaged, but when they broke up he used them to demand she pay him Dh15,000, saying he would post them on Facebook if she did not comply.

Prosecutors told the Criminal Court that police arrested him at a coffee shop at International City as he met the woman to take the money.

But the man said she made up the allegation because she was jealous that he had taken a new fiancée in Syria, and that when he broke up with his new fiancée she agreed to drop the charges. He provided the court with a copy of a waiver from the woman.

He said he met the woman three years ago and the pair became engaged but broke up due to differences in religion.

"She is the one who started threatening me and wanted to take revenge because we broke up," he told the court.

He said he left Syria and came to Dubai six months ago to look for a job after the work market in Syria collapsed due to the political conditions and three months later, the woman followed him to Dubai and demanded to talk to him and see him.

"I met with her and later we chatted on Facebook, she neglected the whole conversation and provided police with a small part in which we talked about the fact that I still have pictures of her and about her wish to take them back," he said.

"I admit having about 140 of her pictures and two pornographic clips which she willingly allowed me to take or even gave me while we were engaged," he added.

He said she became jealous and made up the allegations when he became engaged to another woman. "When she knew that my new engagement was over, she dropped the charges," he said and provided the court with a copy of an official waiver from the woman.

A verdict was scheduled for May 20.