Calm restored in Ramtha after unrest over ‘police beating’

AMMAN — Ramtha was calm on Thursday following "small-scale" rioting in the northern district by "angry young men" belonging to the tribe of a professor seen hit by policemen in a video, citizens said.

A group of young men from the Thiabat and other supporting tribes closed the main road to Ramtha, some 80 kilometres north of Amman, burning tyres in protest against the hitting of their relative, professor Mohammad Thiabat, purportedly by a group of policemen in the video.

"It was fine and calm on Thursday. The rioting at Wednesday night was actually small-scale and short-lived," Mohammad Smeirat, a Ramtha citizen, told The Jordan Times over the phone.

"The angry young men were even obliged by their elders to stop the riots," he added.   

A video has gone viral on social media showing a group of men, reportedly police, hitting a man, said to be Mohammad Abu Duleh (Thiabat).

Thiabat tribe issued a statement on Thursday, describing as "barbaric" the assault of Criminal Investigation Department's personnel on their "innocent" relative.

In the statement, a copy of which was seen by The Jordan Times, signatories claimed that the policemen did not identify themselves and started "hitting Thiabat violently and without mercy".

They also called for an immediate investigation into the incident and bringing all those involved to justice.

Ramtha MPs also issued a statement on Thursday denouncing the way the policemen handled the situation, saying “what they [policemen] did represents them and not the Public Security Department [PSD].”   

PSD said on Wednesday that it opened an investigation into the incident.

A security source told The Jordan Times that all those who appeared in the video have been referred to police court.