Jordan's King Abdullah II on Wednesday pardoned a political activist who was jailed last month for setting fire to a picture of the monarch.
“His Majesty King Abdullah II on Wednesday instructed the government to proceed with a special amnesty for Jordanian citizen Udai Abu Issa [who was accused of ] undermining the King’s dignity,” Jordanian state news agency Petra quoted from a statement of the Jordanian Royal Palace.
Abu Issa, an 18-year-old activist, was sentenced last month to two years in prison by the State Security Court.
The court declared Abu Issa guilty of tarnishing the King’s dignity by burning his picture in the governorate of Madaba, 33 kilometers south of Amman.
In his interrogation, Abu Issa said he burned the picture in solidarity with Ahmed al-Matarna, a 52-year-old Jordanian citizen who lit himself on fire in Amman due to poverty.
He later apologized for his behavior, which he described as “impulsive.”
New York-based Human Rights Watch called for dropping charges against Abu Issa, who had apologized to the King in a letter sent by his lawyer.
“Burning a royal’s image as a political statement should not be criminally prosecuted,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. “To prosecute this act would send a chilling message that criticizing the King is off limits.”
Jordan, which is suffering from an economic downturn, has been witnessing demonstrations for a year demanding political and economic reforms and the fighting of corruption.
