Journos jailed for blasphemy
2003-02-18 08:22
Amman - Jordan jailed three journalists on Monday for blaspheming the Prophet Mohammad in an article about his sex life, judicial sources said.
The piece in the weekly al-Hilal magazine, which touched on the prophet's sexual appetite and focused on Aisha, one of his 13 wives, drew strong criticism from Islamist politicians in the liberal pro-Western Arab state.
A state security court found the weekly's chief editor Nasser Qamash, editor Roman Haddad and the report's author Muhanad Mubeideen guilty of harming the authority of the state, corrupting public morals and blasphemy, the sources said.
The three defendants, who were arrested in January, were given three, two and six-month prison terms respectively and the court also closed the publication for two months.
They had pleaded not guilty to any malicious intent to hurt public feelings.