Jordan

(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 […]

(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/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 […]

(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 […]

(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 […]

(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/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 […]

(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 […]

(HRW/IFEX) – The parliamentary elections in Jordan on 4 November 1997 will be held in a climate of mounting restrictions on freedom of expression and association, Human Rights Watch charges in a report issued on 29 October. “A marked deterioration in respect for basic freedoms has seriously affected the ability of Jordanians to make informed […]

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The Jordanian Council of Ministers’ recent orders for several weekly newspapers to suspend publication bears out the urgent need for reform detailed in “Blaming the Press – Jordan’s Democratization Process in Crisis”. This new report from ARTICLE 19 challenges the Jordanian government’s claim to be the guarantor of its citizens’ human rights, […]

(HRW/IFEX) – Police arrested Ali Sneid, a 25-year old Jordanian writer from a small village near Madaba, on 26 September 1997 at the bus station in Madaba as he was boarding a bus for the village of Ziban. Sneid had recently written an article that criticized a local leader for making what he perceived to […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – Between 24 and 25 September 1997, the Ministry of Information ordered at least twelve weekly newspapers — “Al Majd”, “Al-Mithaq”, “Al-Hadath”, “Al-Bilad”, “Sawt al-Maraa”, “Al Sayad”, “Hawadeth al-Sa’a”, “Al-Hadif”, “Al-Faris”, “Tareeq al Mustaqbal”, “Al-Umma” and “Al-Urdun” — to suspend publication because they had reportedly failed to meet requirements of the amendments to the […]

On 22 August 1996, Usamah al-Rantisi, a journalist with the weekly “Al-Ahali”, was arrested and held in detention for fifteen days by Jordanian security. He is being charged under the Press and Publications Law with “inciting sedition” and could face anywhere from six months to three years in prison. The charges stem from an article […]

Hilmi Asmar, editor of the weekly “Al-Sabeel”, the newspaper of the Islamic Action Front, and vice-chairman of the Jordanian Press Association (JPA), was arrested at his home on 18 September 1996 by officials of the internal security service, apparently over a report published earlier in the week about the methods of torture used by Jordanian […]

On 20 August 1996, Jordanian authorities arrested Nayef Tawarah, publisher of the weekly “Al-Bilad”, editor Khaled Kasasbeh and journalists Taha Abu Riden and Rakan Sa’aideh. They were accused of “sowing discord” and are to be tried for “publishing false information.” The newspaper reported that a girl had died during the rioting that has rocked southern […]

On 24 July 1996, Tawfik Kiwane, the editor-in-chief of the weekly “Akhbar al-Ousbouh”, was remanded in custody for two weeks for “spreading false news.” The weekly had published an article about a bank robbery in the city of Zarqa, near Amman. According to a judicial source, the article was “completely made-up.” Kiwane is the fourth […]