(RSF/IFEX) – On 16 August 2002, RSF protested the detention of journalist Mamoun Al Roussan, editor-in-chief of the weekly “Al Jazeera”, who has been held since 14 August for publishing an article and cartoon lampooning the Qatari authorities. His arrest came shortly after the Jordanian authorities withdrew the accreditation of the Qatar-based satellite news station […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 16 August 2002, RSF protested the detention of journalist Mamoun Al Roussan, editor-in-chief of the weekly “Al Jazeera”, who has been held since 14 August for publishing an article and cartoon lampooning the Qatari authorities. His arrest came shortly after the Jordanian authorities withdrew the accreditation of the Qatar-based satellite news station Al Jazeera, forcing it to close its offices in Jordan.
“This arrest has come during a diplomatic crisis between Jordan and Qatar, and one cannot help thinking that the Jordanian authorities intended it as a gesture to appease the Qatari authorities,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter to Information Minister Mohammad Adwan. “It is disgraceful that a journalist should pay the price for this dispute between the two countries,” Ménard said, calling on the authorities to release the journalist and drop all proceedings against his newspaper.
The Jordanian authorities withdrew the accreditation of the Qatari satellite television station Al Jazeera on 7 August, forcing it to close its main office in Amman (see IFEX alert of 8 August 2002). The information minister accused the station of having intentionally undermined the country and Jordanian government policies.
State Security Court President Mahmoud Obeidat ordered Al Roussan’s arrest on 14 August. He also ordered the arrest of the newspaper’s publisher and president of the board, Sakher Abu Anzeh. According to their lawyer, Haytham Al-Kayed, they are accused of “harming relations with a foreign country”, “contempt toward a foreign head of state and his foreign minister”, and “disseminating false reports”.
The charges arise from a photo montage published on the back page of the newspaper’s 12 August edition, portraying Qatari head of state Hamad ben Khalifah Al-Thani as a female singer and Foreign Minister Hamad ben Jassem Al-Thani as a belly dancer. The charges also stem from an article published in both “Al Jazeera” and “Al Chahed” (another weekly owned by the same publishing house) about alleged “shady ties between the Qatari foreign minister and Israel”. According to their defence lawyer, Al Roussan told the judge that the source for the story was information broadcast by Jordanian public televison.
The State Security Court released publisher Abu Anzeh on bail on 15 August, having decided that he was not directly responsible for the articles. Under Article 122 of the Penal Code, publishers and editors-in-chief are each held responsible for published information, but full responsibility lies with the editor-in-chief.
