(RSF/IFEX) – On 14 May 2002, RSF protested the detention of former television journalist and member of parliament Toujan el-Faisal and expressed concern about her current trial by the State Security Court in Amman on charges of “damaging the reputation of the state and its officials abroad” and “incitement to crime and disorder”. “It is […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 14 May 2002, RSF protested the detention of former television journalist and member of parliament Toujan el-Faisal and expressed concern about her current trial by the State Security Court in Amman on charges of “damaging the reputation of the state and its officials abroad” and “incitement to crime and disorder”.
“It is unacceptable that she faces imprisonment simply for having expressed her opinion on the Internet. We demand that all the charges be dropped and that she be freed at once,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter to Justice Minister Fares Nabulsi. “After attacking the written media, the authorities are now targeting the Internet,” he added. Since the beginning of the year, three journalists have been arrested and two weeklies have been censored.
In an open letter that appeared on 6 March on the Houston, Texas (United States) based website of “Arab Times” newspaper (www.arabtimes.com), el-Faisal accused Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb of “profiting 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.
El-Faisal, who was Jordan’s first female member of parliament, is also accused of having insulted the country’s legal system in an interview with the Qatari television station Al-Jazeera in which she denounced the corruption of Jordan’s courts. She faces up to three years in prison for this offence.
During her court appearance on 13 May, court prosecutor Col. Mohammed Hijazi accused her of “having used media outlets that are known for their hostility towards Jordan to make false accusations that distort the country’s image.” Her lawyers boycotted the hearing because the court refused to order the prime minister to testify. On 14 May, el-Faisal insisted she was innocent of the charges and demanded that the court end her “illegal detention.” The trial verdict is expected on 16 May.
