After having been released. The free speech martyrs, Jihad Momani and Hashem Al Khalidi have been
rearrested by the Jordanian government
Whatever you think about the controversy at large and the nuances between "hate speech" and "the absolute right to to free expression" I am sure you all have absolute sympathy for these two poor souls.
Under Jordanian law, the accused is held behind bars if the charges he faces carry a jail sentence of more than two years.
And they face this punishment for publishing cartoons. Can any reasonable person think that this penalty is proportional to the crime?
The king of Jordan, Abdullah II a decendant of Muhammad has declared that insulting Muhammad is:
"a crime that cannot be justified under the pretext of freedom of expression".
It's a hard to tell what we can actually do to work at getting them freed. I worry that pressure on the Jordanian government to get them released, by "Westerners" may just make matters worse for them. I've also been trying to research just what the penalty for blasphemy is under Jordanian law and coming up with no answers.
Free Jihad Momani!
Free Hashem Al Khalidi!
Thank you for your patience.
I now open the floor to debate.
UPDATE 1:
Links to Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders who hopefully will post something about this soon.
UPDATE 2:
YEMEN closed down a small newspaper and ordered the arrest of its editor today for reprinting caricatures of Prophet Mohammad that have caused outrage across the Muslim world, the official Saba news agency reported.
From here.
How long will it be before we also have to call out: "Free Abdul-Karim Sabra!"?
Kudos to Norwegian Chef for bringing it to my attention.
UPDATE 3:
Khalidi, editor of Al-Mehwar weekly, and Jihad Momani, former editor of the weekly gossip newspaper, Shihan, who was sacked over the cartoons, are both in hospital "suffering from stress and exhaustion", Mansour said.
From this
article.