Beirut, 26 March 2010

Press release

The Jordanian Monarch calls on government officials to show more

openness to the press, and on the journalists to adhere to professional
standards

Amman-SKeyes

During an interview conducted with Jordan’s King Abdullah II by the

editors of daily newspapers in Jordan, published on Thursday March 25,
2010, Jordan's King Abdullah II called on government officials to show
more openness to the press and to guarantee the latter’s right to freely
operate and access information, while reiterating his call on the journalists to
adhere to professional and ethical standards.
In response to a question regarding his assessment of the current status of
media freedoms in Jordan, the King said: “you are aware of my position
which you have heard more than once. What we want is a free, independent
and professional press that plays its part fully and without any hurdles. A
press that writers and criticizes freely and professionally, and which
subsequently contributes to our march towards development and
modernization. I have directed the government in an authorization letter to
take all steps to ensure that the press remains free and professional and to
contribute to the development of the media industry”.
He continued: “While the officials are required to be more open to the press,
guarantee the flow of information and respect the press’s right to freely
operate and access information, I think you agree with me that it is also
required of the press to adhere to the ethics of profession and its professional
standards”.
The King called on the journalists to keep unprofessional practices in check,
saying: “You in the press have declaredly rejected the unprofessional and
unethical practices by certain groups, and which do harm to journalism,
society, the nation and the citizens. Therefore, you have a role to play in
protecting your profession and the people from blackmail by the group that
abuses journalism and violates the rights of the citizens as it distorts their
reputation without any regard to the truth and the ethics of the profession”.

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
He added: “The government has adopted a code of conduct to regulate the
relationship with the press, whereby you will be able to exercise your role in
absolute freedom. The law disallows the arrest of journalists. Currently, the
law is also being amended so that the cases related to press issues can only
be considered by the Court of First Instance, as part of our vision that aims
at creating a clear legislative environment that protects journalism and the
freedom of the press”. The King then stressed that “the unethical practices in
the press have stopped” and said: “frankly, there used to be unacceptable
practices in the past, practices of appeasement and compromise at the
expense of freedom and professionalism, and at the expense of the country
and the citizens. However, all of this has stopped now, and the code of
conduct obliges the officials to adhere to clear professional, ethical and legal
standards in dealing with the press. You, in the syndicate and the media
institutions must ensure that everyone in the profession adhere to the Code
of Conduct that was devised for you, in accordance with the professional
standards that you adopt”.
The King also stressed the need to enact legislations that guarantee the right
of litigation for the citizens in case their reputation comes under harm,
pointing out that “a free, independent and professional press is important for
the country. But at the same time, there should be a transparent legal
mechanism that is consistent with the best international standards in order to
protect the people’s rights and reputations, wherein their right of litigation
against any false accusations and allegations that harm their reputations is
maintained”.

The SKeyes Centre for Media and Cultural Freedom commends the position
of King Abdullah in support of press freedom and its right to access
information, and his statement that the law disallows arrests against
journalists. SKeyes considers his statement that the unethical practices in the
press have ended, to be a testimony in favour of every Jordanian journalist.
For this reason, SKeyes calls on the officials in the Hashemite Kingdom of
Jordan to strictly apply the King’s directives and to abolish trials and
sentences issued against journalists and writers against the backdrop of
freedom of expression cases, and not to file any similar cases in the future
against them, whatever the reasons and justifications may be.

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