Bar association criticises ‘arbitrary detention’ of 84-year-old member

AMMAN — The Jordan Bar Association (JBA) on Monday said it may request a meeting with His Majesty King Abdullah to complain about assaults on lawyers should the government fail to end the “frequent” phenomenon.

JBA members staged sit-ins from 10am to 11am on Monday at justice palaces across the country in protest against the “arbitrary” detention of their colleague Ezzat Ghaith.

JBA Vice President Adel Tarawneh told The Jordan Times that “the claim that our colleague [Ghaith] hit a traffic policewoman is baseless and far from logical. The man is 84 years old and can barely raise his hand, let alone hit someone”.

“We brought five witnesses — including a policeman — who all said they did not see the aged lawyer hitting the policewoman,” he said. 

“We do not accept that a lawyer hits people but we made sure that he did not.”

Tarawneh added the detained lawyer suffers from many health problems and diseases, including Alzheimer’s and leukaemia and has had undergone open heart surgery. 

“He should not be detained. Even if he is convicted, the judge will annul the punishment purely for health reasons.”

The JBA official noted that the syndicate was not informed about the detention as stipulated in the law. 

“Ghaith was arrested on Thursday and we only knew where he was on Friday. He was in the cell without any of the medicines he has to take regularly”.

“The way Ghaith was detained was completely illegal,” Tarawneh charged.

The JBA issued a statement condemning the detention, he said, adding that Monday’s sit-ins were an “expression of anger over the arbitrary detention of one of its members and also an expression of distress and dismay over the assaults on lawyers”.

Tarawneh stressed that assaults on police officers or citizens are totally unacceptable. 

“Let such matters always be dealt with according to the law and not personal agendas.”

Tarawneh concluded that the association will request a meeting with His Majesty if a meeting with Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour and Interior Minister Hussein Majali does not end assaults on lawyers, violations of the law and the crackdown on freedoms.