Five Jordanian journalists have been sentenced to prison terms in two separate defamation cases in the past week. Editor Taher al-Adwan and reporter Sahar Qassam, of Al Arab al Youm, and former editor of Ad Dustour Osama Sharif and Ad Dustour reporter Fayez Louzi were each sentenced on 13 March to three months for ‘insulting the judiciary and commenting on its rulings’.
The case was brought by the country’s highest judicial body after the two newspapers ran stories about a Jordanian who had filed a lawsuit challenging a government decision concerning his citizenship. On 16 March Abdul Hedi al-Majali of the daily Al Rai was also sentenced to three months for defaming the former general director of the Jordanian Centre for Information in an online article. The men all remain free pending an appeal.
