The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has ordered the arrest of a man who was filmed arrogantly telling a car dealer in a luxury showroom to sell the most expensive cars in the garage to him, Arabian Business reports.
According to a report by the state-run news agency WAM, the video degrades and ridicules Emirati society and incites citizens to hold negative public opinion.
In the viral video, an Asian man dressed in Emirati attire is seen attempting to buy a $545,000 car and others while being flanked by people holding significant sums of money.
He said, “What is the most expensive car here? Okay. I want the Mercedez, rolls royce and the Red Bull sports car.
Meanwhile, the UAE’s Federal Prosecution for Combating Rumours and Cybercrimes has ordered the detention of the man pending investigations after being accused of abusing the internet in posting exciting propaganda that stirs up public opinion and harms the public interest.
He was also charged with publishing content that was inconsistent with the media content standards and insulted Emirati society.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation at the UAE Attorney General’s Office also said it monitored a social media video clip in which the defendant was seen wearing an Emirati dress inside a luxury car showroom and followed by two persons carrying what appears to be large sums of money.
The video showed the man talking with the owner of the showroom and “arrogantly” asking to buy a car valued at more than AED2m ($545,000).
According to the UAE’s FBI, “He was shown distributing financial packages to the showroom employees in a way that reveals imprudence and lack of appreciation of the value of money.
“The video promotes a wrong and offensive mental image of Emirati citizens and ridicules them, and then incites and provokes public opinion, which harms the public interest.
“The Public Prosecution ordered the summoning of the owner of the car showroom in which the aforementioned video clip was filmed.”
The Public Prosecution urged social media users in the UAE to observe the legal and ethical regulations in the media content they publish and to consider societal characteristics and embedded values of the UAE society that call for moral commitment in all aspects of behaviour, to avoid falling under the force of the law.