Editor Nahed Hattar violently assaulted
(CPJ/IFEX) – In the late evening of 8 August 1998, Nahed Hattar, editor-in-chief of the weekly “Al-Mithaq”, was violently assaulted by four unidentified men wielding clubs as he exited his car with his wife and child in front of his home in Jabal Hussein. The assailants beat him until he lost consciousness. Hattar was taken […]
New press law ratified
(RSF/IFEX) – According to information made available by RSF on 10 August 1998, on 9 August, Parliament ratified a new press law which poses a grave threat to press freedom. Some articles of this law are real infringements of the rights of journalists to do their work. Article 42 of the bill sent by the […]
Draft press law approved by parliamentary committee
(CPJ/IFEX) – A draft press law was approved last week by the National Guidance Committee (NGC) of the Jordanian Parliament. However, despite the NGC’s amendment of several highly restrictive provisions of the original bill submitted by the cabinet last month, the draft law constitutes a grave threat to press freedom in Jordan. **For background, see […]
Academic leaders and scholars’ advocates critique proposed Jordanian press law
(HRW/IFEX) – In a 9 July 1998 letter to Jordanian Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Mohammad Hamdan, made public on 13 July, the Human Rights Watch Academic Freedom Committee criticizes the draft press and publications law currently being considered by the Jordanian parliament. The letter, signed on behalf of the committee by Jonathan F. Fanton, […]
Appeal to authorities not to have draft 1998 Press and Publications Law passed into law
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – ARTICLE 19 has sent a Memorandum to King Hussein of Jordan about the draft 1998 Press and Publications Law, together with an appeal to the Jordanian Government and Parliament not to pass it into law. ARTICLE 19 considers that the proposed legislation would constitute an unacceptable threat both to media freedom and […]
Newspaper editor Nidal Mansour sentenced to six months in prison
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 2 June 1998, the Amman Court of First Instance sentenced Nidal Mansour, editor-in-chief of the weekly “Al-Hadath”, to six months in prison. Mansour was charged under Jordan’s penal code with harming the country’s relations with a friendly state in connection with a 1994 article published in the weekly “Al-Bilad”, which Mansour headed […]
Newspaper banned
(CPJ/IFEX) – According to CPJ, on 12 May 1998, Jordan’s Press and Publications Department (PPD) ordered an indefinite ban on the distribution in Jordan of the London-based daily “Al-Quds al-Arabi.” In a letter faxed today to editor-in-chief Abdel Bari Atwan, the Jordan Distribution Agency informed the newspaper that it could no longer distribute “Al-Quds al-Arabi” […]
Journalist released from detention
(Freedom House/IFEX) – According to Freedom House, it was reported on 21 April 1998 that Yousef Gheishan, the satirical writer at the weekly “Abed Rabboh”, was released on 18 April 1998, after six days of detention. Gheishan was arrested at his home on 11 April 1998 by security agents, who searched the house and confiscated […]
Journalist detained; new media blackout imposed
(CPJ/IFEX) – According to CPJ, at around midnight on 12-13 April 1998, Jordanian authorities detained Yousef Gheishan, a columnist for the daily “Al-Arab al-Youm” and contributor to the weekly “Abed Rabbo”. Gheishan is being held at General Intelligence headquarters in Amman, the capital. Authorities have provided no reason for his detention. **This alert contains a […]
House committee asks for arrested journalist?s release
(Freedom House/IFEX) – According to information provided by Freedom House on 15 April 1998, it was reported that on 13 April 1998 the Lower House of Parliament Committee urged Prime Minister Abdul Salam Majali to release Yousef Gheishan, a journalist working for the independent “Al Arab Al Yawm” Arabic newspaper. Gheishan was arrested early on […]
CPJ open letter to King Hussein
(CPJ/IFEX) – On the occasion of King Husseinâs meeting with President Clinton on 19 March 1998, CPJ expresses its deep concern about recent cases of government interference with independent journalism in Jordan, which violate international standards for a free press. CPJ is disturbed by the authorities’ arrest and criminal prosecution of several journalists in response […]
CPJ open letter to King Hussein
(CPJ/IFEX) – On the occasion of King Hussein’s meeting with President Clinton on 19 March 1998, CPJ expresses its deep concern about recent cases of government interference with independent journalism in Jordan, which violate international standards for a free press. CPJ is disturbed by the authorities’ arrest and criminal prosecution of several journalists in response […]
Supreme Court revokes amendments to press law
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – On 26 January 1998, the Jordanian Supreme Court decided to revoke the May 1997 amendments to the 1993 Press and Publications Law. The Court decided that the May 1997 Law was unconstitutional because it was enforced without the ratification of the Jordanian Parliament. On 28 January, ARTICLE 19 pledged to continue supporting […]
Playwright Ali Sneid sentenced to eighteen months in prison
(WiPC/IFEX) – According to Amnesty International, playwright Ali Sneid was recently sentenced to eighteen months’ imprisonment. **Updates IFEX alert dated 14 October 1997** Background Information According to reports PEN has received, Sneid was detained on 26 September at the bus station in Madaba while boarding a bus. He was initially held in the custody of […]
ARTICLE 19 and Jordanian partner organisations issue resolution on media freedom and censorship
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is the resolution on media freedom and censorship in Jordan adopted by participants at a seminar organised by ARTICLE 19 and its two Jordanian partners, al-Urdun al-Jadid and the Arab Media Institute, in Amman, Jordan on 28-29 October 1997. SEMINAR RESOLUTION Fundamental Principles 1. Freedom of expression is a fundamental […]
Court upholds government decision to suspend newspaper
(RSF/IFEX) – On 9 November 1997, the Higher Court of Justice decided to endorse a government suspension of the weekly “Al-Mithaq” on the grounds that it had violated the controversial Press and Publications Law. The ruling against “Al-Mithaq” is the first concerning thirteen weeklies that the government suspended in September for allegedly violating the press […]