Support for Qatar Could Land You in Jail, U.A.E. Warns Residents

Residents of the United Arab Emirates who express support or sympathy for Qatar on social media could face a jail term of up to 15 years, the public prosecutor has said.

The penalties come under the U.A.E.’s strict cybercrime law, introduced in 2012, which stipulates punishments for online acts from defamation to harming national unity. The U.A.E. joined Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries on Monday in breaking diplomatic relations with Qatar and closing transport routes, accusing its neighbor of supporting extremists, including proxies of Shiite Muslim Iran and the Sunni militants of al-Qaeda and Islamic State.