Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities have arbitrarily closed a local newspaper ‘Al Roeya’ and dismissed dozens of its employees due to a report on high fuel prices, local media reported.
In early June, Al Roeya, published an economic report that dealt with the rise in commodity prices and the cost of living within the Emirates.
As per a report by Associated Press (AP), the Al Roeya’s editors agreed that it was safe to publish a story about the rise in fuel prices in the country, but the story sparked a storm at the newspaper’s headquarters in Dubai.
The Lebanese news website Raseef22, which revealed the mass dismissal last week, reported the dismissal of employees, journalists, and senior editors and questioning of some of them, before closing the main sections of the Internet last week.
As per the media reports, Emirati officials were outraged by a report published in Al Roeya in June that examined the economic impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the global market, increased fuel prices, and a cost-of-living crisis affecting the UAE’s low-income population.
Anger over report
The report Al Roeya published in June was removed after it was widely shared on social media
The newspaper interviewed UAE citizens, a few of whom reside near the Emirati-Omani border crossed the border to obtain fuel from Oman because it was cheaper than their country.
However, according to AP, Abu Dhabi-based publisher International Media Investments (IMI), officials said Al Roeya’s closing was part of the paper’s transformation into an Arabic business outlet with CNN Business Arabic, which will launch later this year.
The pioneers of social media expressed concern about this censorship.
The Arabic daily ‘Al Roeya’ was founded in 2012, and acquired by International Media Investments, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation, to cater to young Arabic readers in the UAE and across the GCC.
It is noteworthy that IMI is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, brother of the President of the Emirates, who also owns British football club Manchester City.
