RIYADH: The eighth circuit court in Riyadh criminal court has condemned and fined Saudi writer Abdulrahman Al-Zuhayyan for the crime of denigrating and defaming the Riyadh-based newspaper Arab News via his Twitter account. He was also found guilty of violating the electronic crimes regulations in force in the Kingdom. The court formed of three judges rendered a first instance judgement subject to appeal by virtue of which they condemned Al-Zuhayyan for the crimes attributed to him, namely offending and slandering Arab News newspaper and sentencing him to a fine. This sentence can be objected within one month from the date of receipt of the judgment instrument.In a series of tweets last year, the convicted casted several false and unsubstantiated allegations against Arab News. Al-Zuhayyan falsely claimed that he was fired when he was never an employee of the paper; he also tweeted offensive comments against particular nationalities that work at the paper and doubted their integrity and loyalty. “We at Arab News are proud of the diversity that exists within our newsroom and are equally thankful for both local and expat staff members for their hard work, passion and loyalty. We had zero doubt in the fairness of the Saudi legal system and we regard this win as an important message that we will not hesitate to go down the legal route when it comes to protecting the reputation of our brand or journalists,” a spokesperson for the newspaper said.