Amman: Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Sunday urged Jordan to drop charges against two Jordanian journalists detained after posting on their news website a video deemed offensives to a member of the Qatari ruling family.
Jafra news publisher Nidal Faraaneh and editor Amjad Maalla were jailed on Wednesday for posting a video which a judicial official said “offends” Shaikh Jasim Bin Hamad Al Thani - the brother of Qatar’s Emir Shaikh Tamim.
“Jordanian authorities who talk about reform lose their credibility when they arrest journalists for posting a YouTube video allegedly about a prince’s hijinks,” said Joe Stork, acting HRW Middle East director.
“Jordan should be more concerned about harming its international image by prosecuting journalists, than about losing face with Qatar over a lone posting on a news site,” he added in a statement.
Faraaneh and Maalla are to stand trial at the military state security court and could face between two and five years in jail each if found guilty.
They have been charged with “carrying out acts that the government does not approve and that would expose Jordan and its citizens to the risk of acts of aggression,” a judicial official said.
The contested video, called “son of (former) Qatari emir in sex scandal with Israeli woman” was posted by Jafra News on Monday, according to website manager Samer Khatib.
The video, which does not contain any sexual content, shows a man wearing a baseball cap, tank top and a pair of jeans talking to a fully-clothed woman on a bed.
Shaikh Tamim, 33, came to power on June 25 following the abdication of his father, Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani.
“King Abdullah has talked about reform, but he needs to make it real,” Stork said.
“King Abdullah should urge the parliament to remove all penal code and press code articles that interfere with the right to peaceful expression.”
