Lawyer renews bail request for Muslim preacher

AMMAN – Amjad Qourshah’s lawyer on Tuesday submitted a second petition for bail for the Muslim preacher to the State Security Court (SSC).

“We are still waiting for the court’s decision. My client has been locked in solitary confinement for about two months now and only summoned for interrogations once, three weeks ago,” lawyer Mahmoud Dqour told The Jordan Times on Tuesday. 

Qourshah, a UK-graduate professor of Sharia at the University of Jordan and a host of TV shows, was detained on June 13, reportedly over a video in which he criticised Jordan’s participation in the war against Daesh. 

The prosecutor had ordered the detention of the preacher on charges of harming Jordan’s ties with a friendly state. 

The SSC has previously refused to bail the scholar. 

“I hope this time the court will allow the release of Qourshah on bail. There is no reason to turn down the bail,” said Dqour. 

Qourshah has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which included “putting the security of the Kingdom at risk of hostile acts”.