ABU DHABI // A jealous Egyptian divorcee claimed he hacked his former wife’s Facebook account after receiving permission from the fatwa hotline.

The Appeals Court yesterday heard that M M, 25, divorced his wife on November 27 last year.

The Egyptian said that more than three months after his divorce, he rang the Awqaf hotline, which offers religious guidance to Muslims, for advice because he suspected his former spouse was in a new relationship.

He told the person on the hotline that he was still married and asked whether it was justifiable for him to log on to her Facebook page to confirm his suspicions.

The divorcee said the scholar he spoke to gave him his consent, although court records do not say whether the Egyptian had actually made the phone call or received any advice. He later hacked into his former wife’s Facebook account, posted messages purporting to be from her and changed the account password.

The man was charged at the Court of Misdemeanours for using another person’s Facebook account without permission and preventing the owner from accessing it.

He was convicted of the first charge and sentenced to a month in prison, but he was acquitted of the second charge.

The Egyptian has appealed against the sentence, while the prosecution has appealed against his aquittal on the second charge.

He yesterday told the court that his former spouse had repeatedly cheated on him. The judge decided to charge him with slander and public verbal insult.

The man has another pending lawsuit that his former wife filed, which will be heard on Monday.

hdajani@thenational.ae