Man handed prison sentence, JD1,300 fine for assaulting teacher

AMMAN — A First Instance Court on Monday sentenced a man who assaulted a teacher to prison, marking the second verdict of its kind in Jordan, according to the Jordan Teachers Association (JTA).

Last September, a teacher in Irbid was beaten by the father of one of his students. "The syndicate followed up on the case and refused all tribal interventions," JTA Spokesperson Ayman Okour told The Jordan Times on Monday, adding that the perpetrator was sentenced to six months in prison and fined JD1,300. 

Noting that 30 cases of attacks on teachers are currently being handled in Irbid courts, Okour underlined that "punishment is not the ultimate goal" of the JTA, but "activating the law in a way that deters assaults on educators is". 

“We did not want things to go this far. We have always hoped for the relationship between teachers and the local community to be more respectful, but the number and nature of attacks on educators have reached a dangerous point,” he noted, urging parents to
build bridges of communications with teachers "for students' best interest".

A court last year sentenced two assailants on teachers to prison in Aqaba when Judge Bassam Khawaldeh of the Aqaba Court of First Instance made the "unprecedented" ruling against a man and his wife who attacked two female teachers in 2014. 

The husband was sentenced to eight months in jail for incitement and the wife to one-year imprisonment for attacking the teachers.

Attacks on teachers are continuing even after the Cabinet approved amendments to the Penal Code last year that stiffen penalties against those who assault educators and medical personnel.

The amended law, which was referred to the Legislation and Opinion Bureau, stipulates no less than a one-year prison term for those who attack teachers, faculty members at colleges and universities, nurses and doctors while they are on duty. 

The punishment also applies if the educators or healthcare workers are attacked for an action or decision they have taken in their professional capacity.

Last year, the JTA registered more than 100 attacks on teachers.