Father, son questioned over alleged festive firing

AMMAN — Police on Saturday said they were questioning a father and his son for allegedly having fired live ammunition during a wedding in an Amman suburb over the weekend.

The two were at the wedding of another son in Wadi Seer on Friday, Police Spokesperson Amer Sartawi said.

“We received a complaint that gunshots were heard during the wedding and arrested the father and his son (not the groom) for questioning,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

The government and the Public Security Department (PSD) pledged to crack down on individuals who fire live ammunition at weddings or other celebrations.

In August, the chief of police pledged to lock up any groom whose wedding includes festive shooting.

“The groom will spend his honeymoon in prison if shooting occurs at his wedding to celebrate the occasion,” Public Security Department (PSD) Director Maj. Gen. Atef Saudi told Amen FM, the PSD radio station.

“The PSD will conduct campaigns in various governorates and arrest any person who owns a gun without a licence and/or arrest people who fire weapons for any occasion, and individuals who sell weapons and ammunition for this purpose,” said a PSD statement in August.

Amen FM also launched a campaign called “Stop shooting live ammunition. Do not kill me with your celebrations”.

In Wadi Musa, around 240km south of Amman, a youth group active in the Haqiq (achieve) initiative launched by HRH Crown Prince Hussein were handing out leaflets with the slogan: “Enough violence. Arms are killing us,” as part of a national grass-roots campaign that gained momentum after remarks by His Majesty King Abdullah, ordering police to arrest anyone who fires a gun at a festivity, “even if it were my own son”.

Interior Minister Salameh Hammad told the police radio station in August that he had instructed administrative governors to order the detention of anyone who possesses unlicensed weapons or uses them.

According to official figures released last October, three people were killed and 41 were injured by festive firing in 2014.

At least 21 cases of complaints were filed last year against shooters who could not be identified, according to the PSD.