Jordan: Political Activist Sentenced To Five Years

Ayman Sanduka was initially summoned by the public prosecutor on 18 December 2023 in relation to Facebook posts expressing pro-Palestinian sentiments, including a call for a general strike in support of Gaza. On 21 December 2023, the State Security Court prosecutor summoned and detained Ayman Sanduka in relation to a letter he posted on Facebook in October addressed to the King of Jordan in which he criticized Jordan’s diplomatic relations with Israel. 

According to his lawyer, on 23 January 2024, Ayman Sanduka was transferred from Marka prison in Amman to Al-Tafilah prison, which is about 300 km from his hometown, making it very hard for his family to visit him. Security forces also subjected him to verbal humiliation, and, during his transfer, tightly tied his hands and feet. On 24 January 2024, a criminal court sentenced Ayman Sanduka in another case to three months in prison on charges of “defaming an official body”, under the new Cybercrime Law. On 12 February 2024, the State Security Court prosecutor charged Ayman Sanduka of "incitement to oppose the political regime”, under article 149 of the Penal Code. 

On 7 January 2025, the State Security Court convicted Ayman Sanduka of "incitement to oppose the political regime,” under Article 149 of the Penal Code and Article 15 of the Cybercrimes Law, and sentenced him to five years in prison. While the sentence was formally issued as five years of labor under Article 149, in practice, this equates to a term of imprisonment.

Since the October 2023 Israeli offensive in Gaza, the Jordanian authorities weaponized overly broad laws, including the Cybercrimes Law, to target and harass journalists, activists and others for expressing opinions online that are critical of government policies towards Israel. Amnesty International documented the cases of 15 individuals who were prosecuted under the Penal Code and the Cybercrimes Law after criticizing the authorities online. In all these cases, the authorities violated the defendants’ rights including by arresting them without a warrant, failing to inform them of the reasons for their summons or the charges against them, questioning them without a lawyer and using psychological coercion and intimidating tactics during their interrogation or trial.