(AAI/IFEX) - On 27 January 2007, the Jordanian minister of foreign affairs, Abul Elah Alkhateeb, brought a lawsuit against "Al Hilal" weekly newspaper for defamation and insult after it published news that contained criticism of the minister's performance.
The lawsuit was brought by the minister against journalist Ahmed Salama and editor-in-chief Naser Kamsh of "Al Hilal" newspaper, whom he accused of defamation, insult and publishing false news according to the Jordanian Penal Code, after they published news that criticised his performance in the issue dated 18-24 January 2007.
A column entitled "If They Believe", which tackles local news about celebrities and events in brief, inquired about Alkhateeb's absence in a meeting between King Abdullah II and Condoleezza Rice, the United States secretary of state. The newspaper mentioned that upon further investigation, they knew that the minister was in his house celebrating the release of a new newspaper aiming to "Arabise" the Orthodox Church. Another piece of news entitled "We Ask You to Leave" in the same issue criticised the performance of the Jordanian government in general.
A court hearing took place on 4 February at the attorney general's office where Kamsh denied all the accusations against him.
According to Article 41 of the Jordanian Penal Code, it is prohibited to publish false news and those responsible should be punished. The punishment that Salama and Kamsh may face is a prison term of between three and six months.
A meeting was held with Alkhateeb at the Jordanian Journalists Syndicate (JJS), where the JJS refused to invite representatives of "Al Hilal" to discuss the issue, according to Roman Haddad, managing editor at "Al Hilal". Haddad added that Alkhateeb had explained his views concerning filing the lawsuit, saying that he had appeared very weak before his clan , which had threatened to raze the "Al Hilal" newspaper building and beat Salama if Alkhateeb didn't take any steps to restore his dignity. The JJS also didn't take on a moderating role and left the whole issue between Alkhateeb and the newspaper to be settled in court.
