Groom to be jailed if festive firing takes place at his wedding — police chief

AMMAN — The police chief on Monday pledged to lock up any groom whose wedding includes festive shooting.

“The groom will spend his honeymoon in prison if shooting occurs at his wedding to celebrate the occasion,” Public Security Department (PSD) Director Maj. Gen. Atef Saudi told Amen FM, the PSD radio.

Saudi urged the public to call 911 and report any shooting incident that occurs at a wedding near them “and we will be there”.

“Our public relations department office will visit weddings and distribute congratulation cards urging people to refrain from the practice of festive firing, and if they violate our instructions the shooter and the groom will go to prison,” he stressed.

Saudi’s remarks came a few days after a video of a child being shot and killed during a wedding in Irbid’s Huwara town went viral, causing outrage among citizens.

The footage showed a man reloading a gun and shooting in the air during a wedding, and in another attempt to reload the gun that was pointed towards two children standing next to him, a bullet was discharged, striking one of them.

The bullet struck the six-year-old victim in the chest and he died instantly.

The suspect, who is in his thirties, was charged by the Criminal Court prosecutor and was ordered detained for 15 days at a correctional and rehabilitation centre pending further investigation.

On Monday, the PSD issued a statement announcing stiff measures against shooters at weddings.

“The PSD will conduct campaigns in various governorates and arrest any person who owns a gun without a licence and/or arrest people who fire weapons for any occasion, and individuals who sell weapons and ammunition for this purpose,” the PSD statement said.

Saudi also urged the public to boycott any wedding that includes festive shooting and report such incidents, the statement said.

“We will not pursue anyone who reports these incidents or ask for their identification.  We just want to have the information so that we can follow up on it,” he said.

Hammoudeh Abu Elian, who was injured at a wedding as a result of festive firing, welcomed the steps adopted by the PSD, saying “it is about time.”

“This is a step in the right direction.  I will write on my wedding card that I am not honoured to have anyone shooting live ammunition during my wedding,” Abu Elian wrote on Amen FM’s Facebook page.

Amen FM has also launched a campaign called “Stop shooting live ammunition.  Do not kill me with your celebrations.”

Interior Minister Salameh Hammad told the radio station that he instructed administrative governors to order the detention of anyone who posses unlicensed weapons or uses them.

Firas Ekour welcomed the new measures by the government and the PSD, saying he was hopeful this practice will end and that the “law will be applied on everyone fairly”.

Earlier this month, tribal leaders, civil society representatives and activists in Maan Governorate, some 220km south of Amman, signed an honour pact to put an end to firing bullets in the air as a means of celebration on various occasions.

The pact was signed as part of a campaign launched by activists in the southern governorate in cooperation with the Maan Police Department to raise awareness on the serious harm and loss of life caused by celebratory gunfire.

Several campaigns have been launched on Facebook over the past few months, urging people to refrain from the practice.

Some families are stating in wedding invitations that festive firing will not be acceptable at the ceremony. Many other families and tribes have also been posting large banners saying they are against festive firing at celebrations of various occasions.

The Iftaa Department issued a religious edict in April urging people to abandon this practice because it disturbs the peace and harms others.

According to official figures released last October, three people were killed and 41 injured by festive firing in 2014.

At least 21 cases were registered last year against anonymous assailants, where shooters could not be identified, according to the PSD.