A US man working in the United Arab Emirates has been held in maximum-security for months after posting a parody video about youth culture in Dubai, a rights group and family lawyer say.
Shezanne Cassim, 29, of Woodbury, Minnesota, was arrested in April and charged with violating a 2012 cybercrimes law that boosts penalties for allegedly challenging authorities, lawyer Susan Burns said on Wednesday.
He was moved to a maximum security prison in Abu Dhabi in June.
He's been accused of endangering national security, and is the first foreigner arrested under tougher measures governing internet use in the United Arab Emirates, according to the London-based Emirates Centre for Human Rights.
Cassim has entered a not guilty plea and made a statement about his involvement in the video, which he created and posted online in 2012, said Cassim's brother, Shervon.
Shezanne Cassim was born in Sri Lanka and is a US citizen.
He moved to Dubai after graduating from the University of Minnesota in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in political science.
He worked for Emirates Airline before taking a job this spring as a business consultant in the aviation division of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Shervon Cassim said.
The family was initially told a verdict would be issued October 28, but it has been postponed five times, most recently because a judge was waiting for an Arabic translation of the video.
"And in all this time, they have refused to grant bail, with no explanation given," Shervon Cassim said.
His brother's next court date is December 16.
United Arab Emirates authorities did not return messages seeking comment and the US embassy had no comment.
Mike Davies, director of global public relations for PricewaterhouseCoopers, said the company was looking into the matter.
Burns said the video was posted on YouTube in October 2012, roughly a month before the cybercrimes law was enacted in the United Arab Emirates.
Burns said her understanding of the law includes penalties of temporary imprisonment and a fine up to nearly $US250,000. ($A276,136.30)
The video, called Satwa Combat School, is set in the Satwa district of Dubai.
The family said in a statement the comedy pokes fun at Dubai teenagers who called themselves "gangstas" but were known instead for mild behaviour.
The video shows fictional "combat" training, including throwing a sandal and using a mobile phone to call for help. It opens with text saying the video is fictional and is not meant to offend.
"It's tragic. It's something that can happen to anybody, especially young people who post all the time on YouTube," Burns said.
"To be incarcerated over something that's clearly a joke, clearly meant in jest, clearly meant in good humour - and held for seven months - is a violation of human rights."
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