UAE website survives defamation charges to reopen

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

DUBAI (AFP) — An Emirati Internet site will go back online this weekend five months after being shut down by a court for defamation in a decision that drew criticism from world media watchdogs, the owner said Friday.

The website majan.net, which focused on local affairs in the UAE emirate of Ras al-Khaimah and was widely popular, will reopen "tomorrow or after tomorrow," Mohammad Rashed al-Shehhi told AFP.

The site "will be back as it was," tackling issues of concern to ordinary citizens, Shehhi said, after the closure order was lifted earlier this week by an appeals court.

He said he had not made any commitment to censor the material that will go online, but that he will likely avoid publishing names of government officials who come under scrutiny, and...