Amman-

Between the detention center and the government hospital, Jordanian youth Anas Al-Jamal is on the move after entering an open hunger strike to demand his release.

The Public Prosecution charged him with "disturbing relations with a friendly country", and he is being tried before the Military State Security Court.

Al-Jamal, 24, who is detained at the Marka Correction and Rehabilitation Center, began his hunger strike 8 days ago, his mother, Mervat Hamda, told Al Jazeera Net.

And she added, "In the court session on Sunday, his health was very poor, and he showed signs of fatigue and exhaustion from the length of the strike."

The court rejected the request to release him on bail.

During the past week, El-Gamal was transferred to Al-Bashir Governmental Hospital, east of the capital, Amman, several times. After providing the necessary treatment, he was returned to prison despite his refusal to end his hunger strike, according to his mother.

A stand by Jordanians calling for reform last March (Al-Jazeera)

More than 62 detainees

Al-Jamal shares the same prison with the detainee, Adnan Al-Rousan, 71, who faces several charges of violating the penal laws and "cybercrime".

Al-Rousan was arrested in mid-August from his home, and he was taken to the hospital several times after his health deteriorated, as his family told Al Jazeera Net.

Under the hashtag "Freedom for Anas Al-Jamal", activists on social media platforms demanded the release of the detainees, Al-Rusan and Al-Jamal, after the latter entered an open hunger strike to protest the conditions of his arrest last July, "against the background of his Facebook post in which he criticized the Gulf's normalization with the Israeli occupation." According to his family.

The two detainees, Hamad Al-Khuraisha, who has been detained in Marka prison for 5 days, and Ahmed Al-Khalayleh, who has been detained in Al-Salt prison for 6 days, are participating in the hunger strike, according to Ahmed Barshat Al-Zyoud, a member of the Executive Office of the Jordanian Movement.

Al-Zyoud added to Al-Jazeera Net that his country's authorities "extend restrictions on freedom of expression by arresting more than 62 activists on the background of public freedoms cases, including those who have been convicted and others are detained pending trials."


'Officially censored'

On the other hand, an official official source denied "arresting any person who expresses his opinion on public issues."

"The state guarantees freedom of opinion and expression, but within the law, and any violation of the laws in force is punishable by law," he said.

He stressed that "the public right is moving to file lawsuits against violators of laws, in order to protect society from any dangers."

The source added to Al Jazeera Net that what is published on social media platforms is "subject to official control, in order to preserve the cohesion of society and not to prejudice the security of the country, tamper with its unity or endanger its interests, and whoever does so exposes himself to punishment."

With every arrest of “activists” on social media according to the cybercrime law, or “mobilizers demanding reform”, the debate is renewed in Jordan about the law and its clampdown on public freedoms, especially because this coincided with the process of political reform and the constitutional amendment that guaranteed the right of Jordanians to freedom of expression. Express their opinions freely.

Jordanian security forces break up a previous sit-in by activists calling for reform (Al-Jazeera)

Multiple counts and refusal to release

According to the detainees’ defense, the arrested Anas Al-Jamal is being tried for “disturbing relations with a friendly country,” in violation of the laws on preventing terrorism and cybercrime, which are within the jurisdiction of the State Security Court, after criticizing Arab countries following the normalization of their relations with Israel.

According to defense lawyer Louay Obeidat, the court charged the detainee with 5 charges related to “leaking false news, publishing statements involving defamation and defamation of others, broadcasting false news that harms the prestige of the state, publishing news that would stir up racial and sectarian strife, defaming an official body and degrading a public official, This is in contravention of the provisions of the Penal Code and the meaning of the Cybercrime Law.

Obeidat added to Al-Jazeera Net that Al-Rousan is being tried before the Magistrate's Court in Amman, and several requests for his release on bail were rejected.

He explained that the penalty for these charges ranged between 6 months and 3 years, and a lawsuit was filed against him due to posts in which he expressed his opinion on social media.

In a recent statement, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called on the Jordanian authorities to release Al-Jamal, "who has been arrested as part of a series of arrests and harassment he has been subjected to for years."

The observatory said that the conditions of his arrest constitute additional suffering for him and his family, as he is detained with criminal prisoners, and his family can only visit him once a week due to the cost of transportation and the distance between the prison and its residence.

Jordanians are fighting the "battle of the empty intestine", seeking their freedom in their country.

Isn't this a paradox that involves the worst kind of comparisons, and the most hurtful and painful..!


He who withholds the truth from people does not care about their hunger.

#That_Our_Country #Freedom_Anas_Al-Jamal

— Basil Alrafaih (@basilrafayeh) September 1, 2022

Expand restrictions on freedom of expression

The National Center for Human Rights carries out visits to detainees on issues of freedom of opinion and expression.

The center's media director, Ahmed Fahim, said that it is carried out "to ascertain the conditions of their arrest, their suitability and compliance with human rights standards, ensuring a fair trial within short periods of time, providing health needs, and ensuring that their relatives visit them."

Fahim added to Al Jazeera Net that the center received a number of complaints from the families of the detainees of the "National Movement", and those complaints are followed up with the competent authorities and addressed, and this led to improving the conditions of detention.

The center issued a statement in which it said that "the shortcomings of some national legislation and legal formulas of a general and broad character have contributed to a large extent in expanding the base of criminal acts, and constituted restrictions on freedom of expression, in contravention of the Jordanian constitution."