The amateur photographer who was imprisoned and fined for taking ‘prohibited pictures’ in Abu Dhabi has been told his $4,000 camera will not be returned.
The man, a Pakistani living in Sharjah, claims he took the shots in an effort to win a photography competition entitled ‘Abu Dhabi Through Your Eyes’. He had pulled over to the side of the road on Khalifa Bridge in the capital, to take a series of photographs.
However, he was relieved of his passport and fined $270 after he was found guilty of taking photos of Mina Zayed, an area of the UAE capital which includes military facilities and docked warships.
According to UAE daily The National, the man told police and the court he did not know he was taking pictures of a sensitive area, as there were no signs prohibiting photography.
“I went to the Public Prosecution and State Security and I got my passport back, finally, but they told me I would not get the camera back,” MA said, according to the newspaper. “I asked where the camera was and they said the camera was confiscated.”
The newspaper added that the confiscation of the camera was not part of the court verdict, but that when the man went to ask for his camera, he was told it would not be returned.
