Beirut, February 11, 2010

Press release

The Writer Mouwaffaq Mahaddin and the Environmental Expert

Sufian al-Tall Detained for 15 Days on Counts of ‘Insulting the Army
and Jordan’

Amman- SKeyes Special Report

Yesterday, Wednesday February 10, 2010, the Jordanian State Security

Court‟s General Prosecutor decided to remand the writer Mouwaffaq
Mahaddin and the environmental expert Sufian al-Tall for a period of two
weeks, at the Jouwaida Rehabilitation and Reform Centre, in the course of
the case brought against them for „insulting Jordan and the Arab army‟.
The General Prosecutor charged both Mahaddin and al-Tall with „acts that
disturb the relationships with a foreign nation by collusion, inciting racism
by collusion, encouraging regime-change through speeches and collusion,
and of perpetrating acts that undermine the state‟s reputation and standing by
collusion”, in addition to a fifth charge against al-Tall, namely, “insulting an
official body which is the army”. He also decided to remand them to custody
for 15 days at the Jouwaida Rehabilitation and Reform Centre pending the
investigation.
Several days earlier, a group of retired military officers filed a lawsuit at the
Amman General Prosecution against Mahaddin and al-Tall, accusing them
of „offending the army and the blood of the martyrs‟.
According to the lawyer Riad al-Nawaysa who attended the interrogation of
Mahaddin and al-Tall, “these charges are politically motivated, and they
essentially result from not accepting any dissenting opinions. At the same
time, it is an attempt to oppress any opinion inconsistent with official
stances”. He added: “Making charges that are motivated by political
calculations and disputes in this manner could lead to terrorizing and
intimidating citizens in order to thwart them from expressing their opinions
and from talking about public affairs which concern them.” He then noted
that “some armed forces veterans filed a lawsuit following two television
interviews, one conducted by Al-Jazeera with Mouwaffaq Mahaddin, and
the other conducted by the „Normina‟ Jordanian television station with

Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63, Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
Tel /Fax: 00961 1 397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address: info@skeyesmedia.org
Sufian al-Tall, in which they discussed the Khost bombing in Afghanistan,
where a Jordanian intelligence officer was killed along with seven CIA
officers on the thirtieth of December, 2009.” It should be mentioned here
that Al-Arab Al-Youm [Arabs Today] newspaper suspended the writer
Mouwaffaq Mahaddin from writing in the newspaper, following pressures
from the security services on the newspaper in the aftermath of the television
interview with Mahaddin; the newspaper reinstated him at a later time.

The SKeyes Centre for Media and Cultural Freedom deplores the violations,
lawsuits, and the prison sentences against the Jordanian journalists, which all
took place against the backdrop of their opinions and stances. SKeyes also
demands that the Jordanian government take a clear position on what is
happening, and to instruct those concerned of the need to revoke these
sentences and drop charges against the journalists as these are motivated by
the latter‟s opinions, and as this undermines Jordan‟s reputation, and places
question marks on the future of public freedoms, most notably the freedom
of expression and opinion.

Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63, Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
Tel /Fax: 00961 1 397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address: info@skeyesmedia.org