HRW calls on Jordan to free student for allegedly insulting the king

HRW calls on Jordan to free student  for allegedly insulting the king

King Abdullah II of Jordan was urged by US Human rights watch to free a student who was detained and accused of writing a poem criticizing the ruler. The student Hatem AlShuli who has been detained since July denied he wrote the poem.

The statement called on the king to order the withdrawing of the accusations and abolish the law that criminalized peaceful criticism of its ruler highlighting that it had nothing to do with national strife.

Christopher Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at the rights group maintained that “Arrests for things like writing poems unfortunately are regular occurrences in Jordan. He argued that it was unfortunate that Jordan officials could easily arrest and charge individuals simply for writing their opinion which could result in a sentence of 1-3 years