On Tuesday evening, August 8, 2023, the Jordanian security services arrested journalist Heba Abu Taha, to implement a prison verdict of three months imprisonment on charges of sharing a defamation post of governmental body on social media.
The Amman Magistrate Court said, “A post was shared on the Facebook account of the journalist Hiba Abu Taha regarding Al-Aqsa Mosque, which included insults to His Majesty King Abdullah II and accusing him of normalisation with Israel. The post included an image of the king with the Israeli flag.”
Her post stated that “Al-Aqsa is being stormed, and the occupation forces are violating the sanctity of the pure House of God, and those claiming to the custodian of the sanctities in Palestine were in the reception of the enemy’s president, like those who normalised before, thus moving towards a greater humiliation.”
Abu Taha had appealed the ruling, which was issued in absentia, but the court rejected her appeal and upheld the ruling against her with 3 months imprisonment.
The Jordanian government is reminded that it should apply the law and uphold the rights to freedom of expression and press rights, and to allow citizens to express their opinions and engage in public dialogue without fear.
The US State Department had issued a report on the human rights situation in Jordan in 2022 in which it documented the arrest of at least 200 people for political reasons, including criticising the government, its foreign policies, government officials, or foreign countries, or chanting slogans or sharing online posts.
