Al Balad website’s chief editor detained for ‘violating e-crimes law’

AMMAN — The Amman prosecutor general on Tuesday ordered detention of Chief Editor of Al Balad news website Osama Al Ramini “for violating the Electronic Crime Law”, the Jordan Press Association (JPA) said on Tuesday.

Ramini was detained in Salt prison for 14 days pending further investigation following a lawsuit against him for publishing an article deemed by authorities as non-objective and full of slander, JPA President Tareq Momani told The Jordan Times.

It was not clear what the article was about, but media sources said the lawsuit was filed against Ramini by an investor while others said it was filed by Tafileh Education Department after the website published an article that the department deemed “defamatory an unprofessional”.

The JPA said it was following up on the case and called for Ramini’s immediate release on bail.

“We reject the detention of journalists over published material. This contradicts Jordan’s efforts to foster media freedoms,” Momani stressed.

“The e-crimes law and other relevant laws should not be misused to restrict media freedom,” he added.