Two detained for posting corruption accusations on social media

AMMAN — The Amman prosecutor on Thursday decided to detain two social media users after they allegedly published a corruption accusation against a senior official online, a senior official source said.

Amman Prosecutor Abdullah Abul Ghanam announced the two persons’ detention after the senior official filed a complaint against them, claiming that they “were publishing false accusations against him on social media”, the senior official source told The Jordan Times.

The two are part of seven social media users and journalists who were ordered to be detained on Wednesday after being summoned by Abul Ghanam “because they failed to show up on time for questioning,” according to an official source.

“Abul Ghanam decided to release five of them and referred the two others to a correctional and rehabilitation centre,” the senior official source said.

The source refused to elaborate on the charges, saying that investigations “are still ongoing with all seven individuals even if some of them were released”.

Meanwhile, President of the Centre for Defending Freedom of Journalists Nidal Mansour denounced the detention of the journalists, saying that this is a civil not a criminal offence.

“These individuals are being accused of civil offences and should not be imprisoned. This is against freedom of expression and freedoms of individuals in general,” Mansour told The Jordan Times.

He added: “The government could find more practical solutions than imprisoning people such as increasing the fines for spreading false information on social media.  Then, people would think twice before posting any harmful material”.

Jordan Press Association (JPA) President Rakan Saaydeh, who was unavailable for comment, wrote on a post on his Facebook that “the association stands by anyone who writes in an objective and professional manner and does not harm anyone.”

“The case of the seven is not related to news media website. It is about individuals, who are not JPA members, who published their own point of view via social media outlets,” Saaydeh wrote.

Nevertheless, he added that “the JPA is against the detention of any individual in press freedom cases and calls for resorting to the law and the judiciary which are the ultimate judges”.

A senior official source told The Jordan Times on Wednesday that “the case is in no way against freedom of the press. It is just a case against individuals who used social media to spread false, slanderous and defaming information”.