The Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists appealed to His Majesty King Abdullah II to intervene to secure the amnesty of journalist Tayseer Al-Najjar after the United Arab Emirates Court of Appeals issued a three-year prison sentence and a fine of 500,000 dirhams, and ordered his expulsion from the UAE.
In a statement, CDFJ called on the Jordanian government to speed up effective action to ensure the safe return of the Al Najjar to his homeland and his family after the decision of the Court of Appeals closed in response to the contestations of his innocence.
CDFJ expressed its concern over the approval of Najjar’s prison sentence, expressing the hope that this crisis, which threatens the media environment in Jordan, will end.
“We hope that the brotherly, distinguished relations between Jordan and the Emirates will bring about a solution that will ensure the release of Taysir in the near future,” CDFJ stated.
A colleague of Al Najjar stated that Al-Najjar has been arrested since December 13, 2015 on the grounds of a previous publication considered an insult to the UAE on the social networking site “Facebook”, and sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined 500 thousand dirhams (about 100 thousand Jordanian dinar), and is to be expelled from the state.
