Lawyer says Qourshah held in solitary confinement

AMMAN — One month after his detention, Muslim scholar and preacher Amjad Qourshah is still being held in solitary confinement without questioning, according to his defence team. 

Qourshah was detained on June 13 reportedly over a video in which he criticised Jordan's participation in the war against Daesh. 

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

"Qourshah is being treated as a criminal. He has been held in solitary confinement for a month now while being deprived of his right to be interrogated and heard," his lawyer, Mahmoud Dqour, told The Jordan Times on Wednesday. 

He claimed that Qourshah is "being treated in very strange and unexpected ways that violate human rights".  

"The prosecutor general continues to say that Qourshah's interrogation will start soon, but no one has spoken to him until now," said Dqour, adding that the preacher is "in very low morale" due to his situation. 

The defence team is planning to resort to international human rights organisations to look into the violations against Qourshah. 

"We will also appeal to release him on bail for the second time," said the lawyer. 

The State Security Court has previously refused to grant bail to Qourshah.

In previous remarks to The Jordan Times, Dqour said his client "has not done anything that would damage Jordan’s ties with any country”.

"The video in question dates back to 2014 and if it truly contained anything that affects the country, it would have done so a while ago," he said.