Mahmoud Al-Sharaan - Amman
The UAE authorities continue to arrest Jordanian journalist Tayseer al-Najjar since 2015 on the background of a publication on the social networking site Facebook wrote during the Israeli war on Gaza in the same year, and criticized the position of the UAE against the aggression.
Despite the expiry of his sentence, authorities in Abu Dhabi insist that Najjar pay a fine of about $ 136,000, which his average family is unable to pay.
Al-Najjar, a 42-year-old father of five, a member of the Jordan Press Association and the Jordan Writers Association, was arrested on 13 December 2015. He appeared before the court on January 18, 2017, Written before he moved to the UAE to work as a reporter.
The Jordanian journalist ended his sentence in the vaults of the infamous Wathba prison, and the Jordanian mediation did not succeed in releasing him, or even in the general amnesty issued weeks ago on the occasion of the UAE National Day.
The authorities also claimed that Najjar had criticized the UAE on his phone, but did not know how he got the phonograms. The Dubai police subsequently prevented him from boarding the plane to Amman to visit his family, according to relatives of the family.
The palace follows
Despite the strong relations between Abu Dhabi and Amman, it was not enough to release the Jordanian journalist. The sources confirmed to Al-Jazeera Net that King Abdullah II asked to follow up the issue during a meeting with the Jordanian Journalists Syndicate, and directed the Jordanian Foreign Ministry to see the proceedings.
The Embassy of the Kingdom of Jordan in the UAE is also following up the case of the journalist, according to government sources. The case is a special case in the UAE, but the embassy and the Foreign Ministry follow it with great interest.
Majida al-Houran, the wife of the journalist, is preparing to launch a campaign for "releasing Tayseer" in cooperation with Jordanian activists, in an attempt to raise the fine.
| The Jordanian Journalists Syndicate tried to provide legal assistance to the carpenter but the UAE judiciary refused (Jordanian press) |
The Jordan Press Union Council confirms that it has been following the case since the first week of the Council's life, relying on its movements on the fraternal relations between the two countries, according to Council Member Khaled Al-Qudah.
The judges added to Al-Jazeera Net that the union tried to provide legal advice to the carpenter, but the UAE judiciary refused to intervene any party from outside the country, and discussed the issue with the UAE ambassador in Amman and the Jordanian ambassador in the UAE.
International claims for release
In a letter to UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders asked the UAE to immediately release the Jordanian journalist.
"The carpenter must not suffer for another day in UAE jails," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "If he was not really committed to prison, the UAE would not have been jailed. Because of the harmful publications on Facebook dating back to years. "
"Every day these journalists and activists remain behind bars for exercising their right to freedom of expression demonstrates the lack of respect for basic human rights by the UAE," the statement said.