AMMAN
— Sixteen detainees, mostly university students, were released Saturday, days
after they were arrested by the authorities for planning to protest against the
trilateral “
energy-for-water” letter of intent that was signed in Dubai on
Monday by Jordan, Israel, and the UAE. The release came one day after thousands
of Jordanians staged marches in Amman and other Jordanian cities to denounce
the proposed deal under which Jordan will sell energy to Israel, which in turn
will supply Jordan with desalinated water.
اضافة اعلان
The
National Campaign for Defending Students’ Rights (Thabahtoona) issued a
statement early Saturday saying that the arrests contradicted the outcomes of
the Royal Committee to Modernize the Political System, on “empowering the
youth, engaging them in the political system, and encouraging students to join
political parties”.
The
campaign also pointed out that the latest arrests were a message that any
speech about political reform is only made for “external use while the reality on the ground remains as it is.”
Some
3,000 Jordanians including students from public and private universities staged
a protest on Friday afternoon in front of the Husseini Mosque in downtown Amman.
They shouted slogans and raised banners rejecting normalization agreements with
what they call the “Zionist entity”. Some also criticized the constitutional
amendments submitted by the government to the Lower House last week, which they
said constituted an infringement on the principles of the constitution.
Six
political parties participated in the downtown protest: the Peoples’ Movement
for Change, the Stronger Jordan Party, the Future Party, Al-Hayah Party, the
Islamic Action Front Party, the Jordanian Democratic Popular Unity Party, and
the Partnership and Salvation Party.
Loai
Obeidat, spokesman for the People’s Movement for Change and a member of the
Partnership and Salvation Party, said his party is demanding comprehensive
constitutional reforms and stopping the recent agreement with Israel.
Obeidat
stressed that there were no provocations during the protest, as the right to
protest is “legitimate”.
Some
1,500 gendarmes were said to have been mobilized at the protest, but Obeidat
said there were no provocations, and the “legitimate right” to protest was well
respected.
Abdul
Qader Al-Khatib, lawyer of protesters who were detained on Tuesday in
connection with their intention to stage a protest at Al-Dakhliya Roundabout, said
the arrests were against the law and were based on the Crime Prevention Law.
The detainees were never charged.
Former
House member Ghazi Al-Huaymel, who participated in the protest, said that it
was successful with a large turnout by political parties. “Despite the current
difficult living conditions in Jordan, the people refuse to solve their problems
through normalization,” he said.
Lawmaker
Khalil Attieh, who had expressed strong dissatisfaction with the trilateral
signing told
Jordan News on Saturday “the role of MPs is to communicate the
‘voice of the street’.”
The National Council for
Human Rights issued a statement saying it was looking closely into the way the
relevant authorities were dealing with the protests against the inking of the letter
of intent.
It said “Human rights are
the pillars of Jordan’s Constitution since its first edition in 1928. Therefore,
all resolutions and measures taken against protestors must conform to the
second chapter of the Constitution.”
It added that people must
not be arrested under the Crime Prevention Law if they are only expressing
their opinions and that detaining citizens shall be the decision of the legislative
body only.
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