Cases of cyber blackmail rise sharply in Oman

Muscat: Omanis continue to fall victim to cyber blackmail despite the intensive campaigns launched by the Royal Oman Police (ROP) and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) to curb the trend.

This year alone, 161 cyber blackmailing cases have been registered, according to the TRA. Forty-five per cent of those cases included sexual and financial blackmail, and 90 per cent of the victims were male. By contrast, only two such cases

Body of Omani who went missing at sea found

Muscat: The body of a 28-year-old Omani man who went missing in the sea on Friday was found in Auqad area of Salalah province, southern part of Oman, on Saturday evening.

The body was recovered by residents of the village, according to the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA).

Personnel at PACDA and residents had combed the area for one day, with the help of a helicopter, divers and rescue boats.

Last week, the body of 10-year-old who went missing in the sea in Sharqiyah governorate also was found after three days.

DNA samples taken in case of abandoned girl

Muscat: Omani authorities have collected DNA samples as part of an investigation into the case of two-year-old Dana, who was abandoned in Buraimi Public Park in April, Gulf News has learnt.

Dana was found crying alone in the park, after an Omani woman took her there and called the police to come retrieve her. The woman, along with an Omani man, believed to be the girl’s father, were held in police custody for months but later released on bail. DNA samples were collected from Dana and the Omani man.

The names of the people involved in the case have not been revealed by authorities as the investigation is currently under review.

Omani court lifts ban on ‘Al Zaman’ newspaper

Muscat: The Administrative Judicial Court lifted the ban on Al Zaman, an Arabic daily, on Wednesday, saying that the Ministry of Information’s decision to close the paper is void.

On August 9, the Ministry of Information issued an order to halt the publication and the circulation of the newspaper after it published reports in July that targeted the country’s judicial system.

The ministry before the court insisted that the ban should remain until a verdict is issued against three Al Zaman journalists on trial for the article. The paper can resume publishing and distribution from now on unless the ministry appeals the decision.

Three journalists of Al Zaman — Ebrahim Al Mamari, editor-in-chief, Yousuf Al Haj, editor, and Zahir Al Abri, journalist — are standing trial for violating the country’s publications law.

On Monday, Muscat Primary Court judge Saeed Al Busaidi halted the hearing session for the editor of the daily newspaper and postponed it.

The decision came after Al Haj sought to change the judge assigned to the case.

Defence lawyer Yaqoob Al Harthi told Gulf News that Al Haj was involved in a heated verbal spat with the judge in the first hearing session last month, without giving further details

The court has postponed issuing the verdict against Al Mamari and Al Abri to September 19.

The case, which has polarised public opinion in the country, has garnered regional and international attention.

Last month, the ministry of information ordered Al Zaman to close its offices after it published two reports accusing top officials in the government of pressuring the judiciary to change a ruling in an inheritance case.

The newspaper violated freedom of expression by running the report, the government said in a statement run by ONA, the state-run news agency.

The government promised legal action against the journalists but said freedom of expression “remains an authentic value that cannot be evaded and that freedom of expression should become a responsible action that is not motivated by any personal impulses”.

The daily published a story on July 27 titled “Supreme bodies tie the hands of justice”, accusing government officials of pressuring top judges in the Supreme Court to overturn a decision in an inheritance case.

Al Haj interviewed the vice-president of the Supreme Court who said that the judiciary is in a “pitiful state” and there are many violations.

Speaking to Al Hayat newspaper, a top Omani official said that newspapers were publishing such news after the government suspended financial support to local newspapers due to an economic crisis caused by the slump in oil prices.