8/9/2019 The Criminal Court of Amman Fines a Sudanese
Intellectual An
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Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63,
Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, LebanonTel /Fax: 00961 1
397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address:
[email protected]
Beirut, February 21, 2010
Press release
The Criminal Court of Amman Fines a Sudanese Intellectual and
a
Jordanian Publishing House after Being Convicted of Insulting
the
Muslim Faith
Amman-SKeyes
On Sunday, February 21, 2010, the Criminal Court of First
Instance inAmman, led by Judge Nazir Shehadeh, decided to fine a
Sudanese
intellectual and a Jordanian publishing house the amount of 10
thousand
dinars each, after being convicted on charges of insulting
religions, in
violation of Article 38 of the Press and Publications Law.
Their defence attorney Zaid Majali told the website Khabberni
[Tell Me]:Today (yesterday), the courts decision was issued fining
the Sudanese
writer - a non-permanent resident of Jordan Al-Nayyel Abdul
Qader Abu
Quroun and the Ward Publishing and Distribution House, the
amount of ten
thousand dinars each, following the lawsuit filed against the
book Theletters of al-Sheikh Al-Nayyel...A Critique of Islamic
Thinking. The lawyer
indicated that the book was not distributed in Jordan. He also
clarified that
the Ward publishing house submitted the book for approval by
the
Department of Press and Publications, and that after the book
was studied,
the former came up with 12 remarks and concluded that the book
supports
Shi'ism, and requested that it be referred to the General
Prosecutor for
violating articles in the Press and Publications Law, and for
slandering,
defaming and offending religion.Majali said that the book
studied a number of hadiths attributed to the
prophet mentioned in Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari, which Abu
Qurounsaid that they cannot be imputed to the Prophet (PBUH) and to
his wife
Aisha. The book included long and detailed discussions on these
hadiths,
which the Department of Press and Publications deemed to be
offensive to
religion.
8/9/2019 The Criminal Court of Amman Fines a Sudanese
Intellectual An
2/2
Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63,
Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, LebanonTel /Fax: 00961 1
397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address:
[email protected]
This is the first case that involves referring an Arab
intellectual to the
Amman Criminal Court against the backdrop of a book published by
a
Jordanian publishing house.The Press and Publications Department
referred Abu Quroun and the
publishing House to the judiciary in April, on counts of
insulting the
companions of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in his book The
letters ofal-Sheikh Al-Nayyel...A Critique of Islamic Thinking. At
the time, the
director of the Press and Publications Department Nabil
al-Mumini
announced that Abu Quroun and the Ward Publishing and
Distribution
House have been referred to the judiciary, pursuant to the Press
and
Publications Law which prohibits the publication of any material
offensive
to religion. The department recommended in the course of its
complaint
against the writer, the book and the publisher the charge of
insulting theprophets companions Abu Bakr, Umar and Aisha against
the defendants,and said that the thinker has Shiite inclinations,
in addition to questioning
the books of Bukhari and Muslim and their infallibility, as he
stated that no
one is infallible except the Prophet (PBUH).
The Department of Press and Publications presented the book to
the Ministry
of Endowments, which decided through its Secretary-General
Dr.
Mohammed al-Ruoud to ban the distribution of the book, in a
report hesubmitted to the Press and Publications Department,
mentioning that: the
book is full of falsities against the noble Sharia, and we
recommend that thebook be banned as we view it to be unfit for
publication.
The SKeyes Centre for Media and Cultural Freedom reiterates
its
denunciation of all sentences made against writers and
intellectuals in Jordan
that are related to intellectual freedom and the freedom of
expression and
opinion. SKeyes also deplores the continuation of
pre-publication censorship
over books and literary and cultural works by any party or
authority, and
also the detention of journalists while carrying their jobs, and
their
interrogation and release on expensive bails as happened
yesterday also with
the journalist Khalil Qandil. SKeyes calls on the Jordanian
government to do
the necessary to repeal the sentences issued against all of the
individualsmentioned above, and to reconsider and abolish the laws
in force in this
regard, as these harm the reputation of the Hashemite Kingdom of
Jordan
and poses many questions regarding the future of freedoms there
in
particular the freedom of expression and opinion.
