Jordan: A new law for the press

The Jordanian government has prepared a draft law that mends the valid printing and publication that guarantees the reinforcement of press freedom especially preventing holding journalists in custody or jailing them over publication matters and abrogating prior monitoring on the press.

The official spokeswoman for the Jordanian government Asmaa Khuder said in a press conference yesterday that the press and publication draft law, which is an amended law for the printing and publication law of 1998 which will be approved by the government before submitting to the parliament for voting "concentrated in raising the ceiling of freedom and enhancing professionalism in media performance."

The spokeswoman explained that the most remarkable in the new law is " banning detention of a journalist in publications maters," in addition to "enabling the preliminary court, the specialty of printing cases and giving this issue top emergency."