Amman - Five Jordanian journalists have been sentenced to three months in jail each for "offending" the judiciary, judicial sources said Tuesday. The five include Taher Adwan, the editor-in-chief for the independent Alarab Alyawn daily and Osama al-Sharif, the former chief editor of the daily al-Dustour.
They had been sued individually by Jordan's Higher Judiciary Council, the country's highest judicial body, for among others publishing a commentary on a ruling it passed on Jordan's nationality law.
The syndicate of Jordanian journalists has blasted the verdicts as "reflecting negatively on the freedom of press" while judicial sources said they could appeal the case.