JORDAN: Court censors opposition weekly over corruption coverage(fwd)

["Clement M. Henry" <chenry@mail.la.utexas.edu>]

Here is a commentary on civil society in Jordan, one of the supposedly
more progressive Arab states.

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Clement M. Henry
Professor of Government
University of Texas at Austin
Austin TX 78712
tel 471-5121, fax 471-1061

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 18:19:31 -0500
From: Hani Sabra <HSabra@cpj.org>
Subject: JORDAN: Court censors opposition weekly over corruption coverage

Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA     Phone: (212) 465-1004
Fax: (212) 465-9568     Web: www.cpj.org     E-Mail: info@cpj.org

JORDAN: Court censors opposition weekly over corruption coverage

New York, March 5, 2002-The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply
concerned about a recent Jordanian court decision to delay the publication
of the opposition weekly Al Majd.

On March 3, the State Security Court banned the publication of the March 4
issue of Al-Majd unless the paper's management agreed to remove two articles
about alleged government corruption.

One of the articles detailed a large-scale financial scandal. The second
article was critical of former internal security chief Samih El-Bateekhi.

According to Al-Majd editor Fahd al-Rimawi, the March 4 issue was sent out
for printing on Sunday, March 2.

The printing of Al-Majd is handled by another local independent newspaper,
Al-Rai. Before the paper could be printed, Al-Rai staffers received a fax
from the prosecutor general of the State Security Court, ordering them not
to print Al-Majd.

When al-Rimawi contacted the State Security Court he was told that the paper
could only be published if he agreed to remove the two offending articles.
(Al-Rimawi believes that the prosecutor was tipped off by someone at
Al-Rai.)

Under Penal Code amendments passed last year, publications can be suspended
or permanently banned if they print "false or libelous information that can
undermine national unity or the country's reputation," "violate basic social
norms," "sow the seeds of hatred," or "harm the honor or reputation of
individuals," among numerous other restrictions.

Offending journalists face prison sentences of up to six months and fines of
5,000 Jordanian dinars (about US$7,000).

"We deplore this censorship of an independent Jordanian newspaper," said CPJ
executive director Ann Cooper. "Al-Majd was covering matters of obvious
public interest, and stopping its publication sets a dangerous precedent."


In January, al-Rimawi was detained for two days and charged with publishing
false news, based on several Al-Majd articles that criticized the government
of Prime Minister Ali Aboul Ragheb.

In censoring Al-Majd, the court acted arbitrarily: Al-Majd was not granted a
hearing or any other form of due process, and no formal charges were filed.

ENDS


*************************
Hani Sabra
Researcher
Middle East and North Africa

Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Avenue
12th Floor
New York, NY 10001

Tel: (212) 465-1004, x-104
Fax: (212) 465-9568
Web: www.cpj.org