Jordan to scrap jail for press

2006-05-31 22:03

Amman - Jordan plans to scrap prison sentences for offences involving the press, the government said on Wednesday, a day after two journalists were handed jail terms.

"The government is committed to legally abolishing prison sentences for journalists in press and publications-related offences," government spokesperson Nasser Jawdeh told AFP.

"This policy has been clearly expressed by the king (Abdullah II) on a number of occasions," he said.

"The government will do so through a clear clause to this effect in the new press and publication law that it will present to the parliament," said the spokesman.

A Jordanian court on Tuesday sentenced to prison two newspaper editors for "attacking religious sentiment" by reprinting cartoons deemed offensive to Prophet Muhammad, their lawyer said.

Jihad Momani, former editor of the weekly Shihane tabloid, and Hisham al-Khalidi, editor-in-chief of the tabloid Al-Mehwar, "were each sentenced to two months in prison", attorney Mohammed Kteishat told AFP.

The defendants have been on bail since their arrest in February for printing the drawings, first published in September by Danish daily Jyllands-Posten.

The cartoons were subsequently re-published by numerous mainly European papers, triggering the fury of Muslims around the world, sparking often violent protests and triggering a boycott of Danish goods in several Muslim countries.

Momeni and Khalidi both pleaded not guilty.

The government spokesperson said "the case of the two editors in question is not a new one, it has been in the legal system for months now and the sentence passed yesterday (on Tuesday) is being appealed".

The two journalists are currently free on bail until their appeal is heard, he said.

Early in February, King Abdullah said that insulting the Prophet was "an unjustifiable crime ... that could not be justified on the pretext of freedom of expression".

- AFP