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AMMAN — Government officials on Saturday said four people, who organised a party in Balqa Governorate a day earlier and were arrested, have been released on bail.
The four were arrested when police raided a party following a complaint by residents in the area, a senior official source said.
“We received a complaint from the residents that there was loud music and that it was causing disturbances, so we went to the party and arrested four people,” the official source The Jordan Times.
A second senior government source said the incident is being investigated by the authorities.
“Four people, who organised this party, were detained briefly for questioning and then released on bail, pending further investigations with the administrative governor,” the government source told The Jordan Times.
However, several activists and social media users criticised the step taken by the authorities to “detain the organisers briefly, saying this worked against the freedoms in Jordan”.
Social media activist Deema Alam Farraj addressed Prime Minister Omar Razzaz in a Tweet “to explain to the Jordanian people the standards and procedures behind apprehending people who organise parties in Jordan”.
“Premier Razzaz, we want to know if it is forbidden in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to have mixed parties, to dance, to drink alcohol, to hold events that tackle controversial and enlightened topics?” Alam Tweeted.
Amer also Tweeted criticising the police raid saying: “This is a schizophrenic act on the part of the government, in a country where they allow bars and discos to operate, and then they become the guardian of honour on such parties.”
But Eyad Nino said in a Tweet that he was in favour of cancelling such “suspicious parties in order to protect our children so we do not lose our control over them”.