AMMAN: Authorities came under mounting pressure Friday from the opposition and civil society organizations to release two prominent columnists who were arrested Wednesday for criticizing Jordan’s intelligence cooperation with the United States in Afghanistan.
The protesting organizations alleged that the detention of Muwaffaq Mahadin and Sofian Al-Tal was indicative of a crackdown on public freedom.
Statements to this effect were issued by the Jordanian National Initiative, the Jordan Writers Union, the Jordan Engineers Society and opposition parties.
The public prosecutor of the State Security Court ordered the detention of Mahadin and Al-Tal after a group of retired army personnel filed a lawsuit accusing them of “offending the armed forces and betraying their blood.”
The move came after the two columnists made statements during television talk shows aired separately by two stations, questioning the feasibility of Jordan’s participation in the US intelligence services in Afghanistan.
The debate addressed the incident involving Jordanian Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal Al-Balawi, who blew himself up at a US forward base in Khost, Afghanistan, on Dec. 30, killing seven CIA agents and his Jordanian handler.
“This is a purely political case and from a legal perspective has no criminal basis and completely contradicts the right of expression guaranteed by the constitution,” lawyer for the defendants Riyad Nawaiseh said in a statement to the media. He said that the court had refused to release the two defendants on bail at this juncture.
The government said it had nothing to do with the issue because it was “in the hands of the judiciary.” “It is between individuals and the government is not part of it,” Minister of State for Media Affairs Nabil Sharif said.
