Hate speech suspects to be tried before civil court

AMMAN — The State Security Court (SSC) on Monday referred the cases of 12 defendants accused of offending the victims of Istanbul's recent terror attack and their families on social media to the Amman prosecutor.

Amman Prosecutor General Abdullah Abul Ghanam started looking into the cases after the SSC decided that charges related to libel and slander do not fall under its jurisdiction, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted a judicial source as saying. 

The 12 defendants are being prosecuted for alleged online abuse directed at the Jordanian victims of the Istanbul nightclub attack on New Year's Eve. 

Alleged offences included incitement of hatred, promoting sedition and abusing the victims and their families, in addition to expressing support for the terrorist attack.

Investigators had traced several of the accused individuals' social media accounts after they made comments that "disgrace and abuse people", in violation of Article 11 of the Cybercrime Law, Petra reported.

Two Jordanians died and six were injured in the attack at Istanbul’s Reina restaurant and club, when a gunman opened fire on the crowd, killing at least 39 people and injuring dozens more.

Earlier this month, Minister of State for Media Affairs and Government Spokesperson Mohammad Momani told EU delegates visiting the Kingdom that the government was working to formulate a law on social media in order to ensure these platforms are not used to spread hate speech and cause discord in the community, especially through circulating rumours.