Indian lecturer held in Dubai on defamation charge

An Indian university lecturer was arrested soon after his arrival here on defamation charges for blogging against a private Dubai-based university.
The lecturer, who was not identified, was employed by a private university in Academic City in Dubai till a year ago.
He had written a blog about the institution not paying his end-of-service benefits after his contract was terminated without reason, the Gulf News reported.
He even filed a case against them at the Ministry of Labour and won, with a local court directing the university to pay up, the report added.
On his return to India, the lecturer wrote and posted a video about his experience on his blog, prompting the filing of the defamation charge against him in Dubai.

According to the police, a university employee filed a complaint at Al Rashidiya police station accusing the Indian of defamation.

When the lecturer landed in Dubai on May 5 on a business visa to see his wife who works here, he was arrested. He currently remains out on bail after being held for 24 hours.
"I have to travel to the UK for my postgraduate study. I am not living here and I have to leave in a few days," the report quoted the lecturer as saying.
The lecturer is based in the US and was due to leave UAE for UK yesterday as per his earlier travel plans.

The police have confiscated his passport and the case referred to a public prosecutor, the report said.