Reporter charged with taking illegal pictures

ABU DHABI // A reporter for a Dubai Arabic-language newspaper who took photographs of a man threatening to jump from the top of a water tank appeared in court yesterday charged with taking unauthorised pictures of a crime scene. The journalist, IK, was accused at the Abu Dhabi Court of Misdemeanours of taking photographs without permission, not responding to orders from police and working as a journalist while her visa did not state that. Her newspaper confirmed she was a reporter but said her residency documents were being processed.

IK visited the federal Attorney General's compound at Al Khubairat Palace on March 21, and, from a window, saw a man standing and shouting from the top of a palace water tank. The Bangladeshi man was threatening to jump, claiming his employer had not paid his salary for months. The man, who eventually climbed down safely, worked in Sharjah and was protesting to the Attorney General his employer was holding his passport.

IK said she took a picture of the man using her mobile phone and added that when she was approached by a police officer, she offered to let him delete the pictures, which he did. Police said IK then took more photographs, and said she admitted returning to the scene to do so. IK denied this. The judge adjourned the case until June 10 for a verdict. [e-mail] [e-mail]