Amman (dpa) – After taking part in hundreds of protests and chanting thousands of slogans, a few choice words transported pro-democracy activist Saed Ouran from the streets of southern Jordan to an Amman prison cell. “They say I insulted the king,” Ouran told the dpa from the capital's Jweideh Correctional Facility. Ouran is the latest in a string of political activists detained by security forces for allegedly defaming King Abdullah II, highlighting Amman?s ongoing struggles to reconcile a decades-old policy of punishing criticism of senior officials with newfound demands for freedom of expression. In contrast to the heavy-handed responses to protests in Cairo and Tunis, Jordan relaxed its laws restricting public gatherings in the early days of the Arab Spring. Over 1,000 protests and sit-ins were allowed what the state-run National Center for Human Rights (NCHR) described as a “landmark year” for freedom of expression. “Jordan saw huge improvements in freedom of speech in 2011,” said NCHR deputy director Ali Dabbas. “People were able to express their grievances and hold officials accountable in a manner that was unheard of only a few years ago.” Despite the Arab Spring bloom in Jordanian political activity, recent signs indicate that as the country's protest movement enters its second year, authorities' tolerance towards increasingly emboldened activists is beginning to wane. Since the beginning of 2012, authorities have referred seven pro-democracy activists and a former member of parliament (MP) to the military State Security Court on charges of insulting the king and threatening national security – charges that carry up to three years in prison with hard labor. Activists claim a direct link between the recent arrests and increasingly daring protest slogans – which have harshly criticized MPs, the prime minister, the General Intelligence Department and most recently Queen Rania and former crown prince Hassan bin Talal. “Now that people's criticisms have reached the Royal Palace, the state is invoking these laws to silence the opposition,” said Ahmed Ouedi Abbadi, a former parliamentarian who spent two months in prison earlier this year for calling for a “Jordanian republic.” The high-profile arrests of political activists has placed a spotlight on Jordanian legal code human rights activists claim have long been abused to suppress public criticism of the Royal Court and security services. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), some 50 Jordanians are detained each year for violating articles in the country's penal code criminalizing speech that undermines national security or is deemed insulting to government officials, Arab heads of state and even national buildings and symbols. “Under the penal code, citizens can be arrested for insulting the brick stones of Parliament,” said Christoph Wilcke, a senior HRW researcher. According to Wilcke, the most controversial article is a clause penalizing any speech or act “undermining the King's dignity” – the remnants of centuries-old European lese-majesty law that legal experts trace back to British influence. Human rights activists say the clause casts a wide net – with recent violations including a passing remark in a conversation with a taxi driver, a poem written by a university student and the burning of a photograph of the king by a youth activist. Legal experts say the recent rollback of political freedoms has hinged on the increasing use of the State Security Court, which has long been used as a tool by authorities to detain suspected militants indefinitely without due process. The military tribunals are not bound to the standards or oversight of the civilian judiciary, with trials closed to the public. Attorneys say this has made it Amman's new destination of choice for political activists. “All authorities have to do is say that a case involves national security and the defendant immediately loses all their legal and human rights,? said Mousa Abdullat, defense attorney for a youth activist who was sentenced to a three-year prison term for burning a picture of the King Abdullah. “It's the perfect way to send a simple message to activists: we gave this freedom to you and we can take it away any moment.” Despite the rise in arrests, activists such as Ouran claim that authorities will find that antiquated laws and an outdated “security mentality” increasingly ineffective in trying to contain citizens' rising demands for political rights. “The fear is gone – Jordanians see corruption all around them and they will no longer stay silent,” said Ouran, who vowed to return to the streets upon his release. “They can take away our freedom, but they can never imprison our speech.” BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/RNiNq Tags: Activists, Amman, Frre Speech, Jordan Section: Features, Jordan, Latest News, Levant
