Al-Khatib: The draft law discriminates between Jordanians, and it must be submitted to the government by the representatives

Amman – Raed Sobeih

The head of the Freedoms Committee in the Islamic Action Front Party, Abdul Qadir Al-Khatib, said that the draft cybercrime law is designed to silence mouths, and it represents a stage of new martial law.

Al-Khatib added, in a statement to:compass“The draft law greatly increased the penalties to become a collection law, in which fines reached 50,000 dinars in some cases.

And he talked about the introduction of strange legal articles under the name of “character assassination,” so that it is forbidden to criticize any official, although the state guarantees the right to opinion in the constitution, whether verbally or in writing, and every person has the right to hold any opinions without harassment, and every person has freedom of expression.

Al-Khatib stressed that any law that confiscates freedoms is unconstitutional, and therefore it represents a stage of new martial law in which freedoms are limited and aimed at protecting officials from any criticism.

The head of the Freedoms Committee reviewed what he described as “discrimination” in the law. If an ordinary citizen is subjected to slander, he must file a complaint, while criticizing an official or an official body, the Public Prosecution Office can move the case against the citizen with the aim of removing the embarrassment from those responsible.

He explained that the old law stipulated imprisonment or a fine, but the new law combines imprisonment and fines, which have reached unprecedented levels, and therefore the draft law represents an apostasy from democracy.

Al-Khatib called on the House of Representatives to reject the draft law, indicating that referring the draft to the Parliamentary Legal Committee means that the law will pass with minor amendments.

He stressed that passing the bill means domesticating citizens and preventing them from speaking, and therefore any Jordanian is subject to arrest just for criticizing any government or official role.

He stressed the importance of responding to the law by the House of Representatives, pointing out that the Penal Code is sufficient to solve the problems that the government says it wants to cover through the new law.

In the first session of the special session, Sunday, the House of Representatives referred the draft cybercrime law for the year 2023 to its legal committee, despite the demands of several representatives to reject it and return it to the government.

He discussed the draft cybercrime law for the year 2023, as a number of deputies demanded that the law be returned to the Council of Ministers for amendment due to the “restriction of freedoms.”