I was dismayed to read that former Minister of Information Adnan Abu Odeh was charged after an interview he granted Aljazeera during which he expressed his opinions about the situation of Jordanian-Palestinians in the Kingdom. I regard it as a real blow to free speech in Jordan.
I interviewed Abu Odeh some years back for a university project that I was working on. I did not agree with everything he said, but I respected his right to say it and even used some of his quotes for my project. In this day and age, charging Abu Odeh for stating his personal opinion is simply outrageous. I want to reiterate what Abu Aardvark has said on the issue:
Whatever one thinks of Abu Odeh or about Jordanian-Palestinian identity politics, nobody interested in liberal reform in Jordan (or in the Arab world) should be happy to see someone like Abu Odeh being prosecuted for simply stating political opinions in public.
Indeed. I also would like to highlight some extracts from today’s The Jordan Times editorial:
Are we never going to learn that silencing the voices of dissent is, ultimately, a self-defeating act? Whether we like it or not, what former Royal Court chief Adnan Abu Odeh recently told Al Jazeera Television should be his right. That he should be charged with sedition is preposterous. First of all, someone engaging in what might be called a seditious enterprise usually intends to create public disorder or disturbance and thereby cause violence. This certainly, by any stretch of the imagination, was not Abu Odeh’s intent … Let us remember that the Jordanian Constitution guarantees citizens freedom of worship, press, opinion, petition and peaceful assembly. That the indignation of some towards Abu Odeh’s opinions should be allowed to be translated into legal charges, flies in the face of these sacred guarantees.
Well Natasha, I agree with you. But our nation is still not ready for freedom of speech and Democracy. Take a look at the blogsphere and see what happenes when someone dares say something a bit daring… madabe7!
Anyway… how are you? 🙂
Actually, the report makes it sound more like the case was thrown out of court, not dropped.
The case was dropped. [LINK]
Abu Odeh
Another surprising incident of the lack of free speech in Jordan, this time a well-known former government official Adnan Abu Odeh.
Jordan will continue to live in a depressed state economically, politically and socially until free speech and other bas…
I think that al-jadaya and abu 3oda are both hypocrite.
In Arabic, the charges are:
إثارة الÙتنة Ùˆ إطالة اللسان
I feel like we’re in 6th grade.
The interesting thing is that it wasn’t the Jordanian government that filed the complaint against Abu Odeh, but the mufti of the Jerash municipality, Ahmad Al-Jadaya, who did so based on his own personal choice.
His justification: “Abu Odeh’s intention was to stir mutiny in the country and insult the person of the Jordanian king”.
On behalf of myself, and only myself, I’d like to tell Mr. Al-Jadaya that I appreciate his concern for the well being of the country of Jordan, that’s every Jordanian’s duty, and I appreciate his decision to respond using the justice system which is every person’s right and should be the right forum to hold people accountable for any crimes that they might have committed.
However, I’d like to tell Mr. Al-Jadaya that he should not really count on seeing his charges confirmed and Abu Odeh convicted, because I think it’s obvious to everyone in this case that the charges are simply ridiculous!
🙂
What do you honestly say to something like this? Charged with ‘slander and stirring internal strife’ by simply stating his opinion – which some (if not many) may agree with?! How are his comments deemed ‘unpatriotic?’ Patriotism is love for one’s country and the well being of one’s country first and foremost… if he thinks there’s inequality and doesn’t think inequality should exist in his country nor does it serve the best interest of the country, that makes him patriotic…but it seems so that patriotism is always linked to how much one worships the presidents, Kings, and Governments…which is outrageous and pathetically sad! What a shame! I am truly disgusted!