Feb 14 2003
Protect Independent Minded Jordanian Journalists
Naser Qamash, Roman Haddad and Muhanad Mbideen have been held in the Jewedeh prison south west of Amman since January 17th. They are held in jail pending a state security trial looking into the government’s case against their newspaper Al Hellal. The weekly paper published an article dealing with the personal life of the Prophet Muhammad. Although the article is mostly a collection of legally published materials, including books available in Jordanian prisons, the government feels that the article touches on religious sensitivities. But while Jordanian law provides for a civilian prosecution of journalists for inflaming religious sensitivities, the government has chosen to use the state security courts for this case. Using the temporary law 150, which criminalizes journalistic-related crimes, the state prosecutor is holding the three journalists in a detention center pending the outcome of their case. Continue Reading »