(RSF/IFEX) – On 16 May 2002, RSF expressed its “outrage” at the sentencing of Jordanian former television journalist and member of parliament Toujan el-Faisal to 18 months in prison for slandering state institutions and called for her to be freed at once. “We are outraged at this decision by the State Security Court (especially since […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 16 May 2002, RSF expressed its “outrage” at the sentencing of Jordanian former television journalist and member of parliament Toujan el-Faisal to 18 months in prison for slandering state institutions and called for her to be freed at once.
“We are outraged at this decision by the State Security Court (especially since no appeal is possible) and we cannot accept the imprisonment of someone for simply expressing an opinion on the Internet,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard in a letter to King Abdullah II. “The few pockets of freedom in Jordan seem to be shrinking day by day,” Ménard added. Since the beginning of this year, three journalists have been arrested and two weeklies have been censored (see IFEX alerts of 20 and 6 March and 16 January 2002).
El-Faisal, who was Jordan’s first-ever female member of parliament and a former television journalist, received the maximum sentence on four charges, including publishing “lies that hurt the state’s integrity and honour”, after accusing Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb of corruption.
The presiding judge said she had made statements and published articles aimed at harming Jordan’s image abroad and had “sown strife” inside Jordan. The State Security Court’s decisions cannot be appealed, but the king can commute or pardon convicted individuals.
In an open letter that appeared on 6 March on the website of the Houston, Texas (United States) based website of “Arab Times” (www.arabtimes.com), el-Faisal accused the prime minister of having “profited financially” from a government decision to double vehicle insurance rates. She was arrested on 16 March for allegedly “damaging the reputation of the state”. The State Security Court prosecutor released her on bail on 27 March but she was arrested again two days later, on the eve of a press conference she was about to hold at her home.
