On 24 December 2020, the Public Prosecutor of the State Security Court in Jordan issued an order to detain journalist Jamal Haddad, owner of the Al-Waqa’ai news website, for publishing an article about government officials receiving the Coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine in secret, which contradicts public statements on the topic.

The State Security Attorney General has directed charges against him that include “endangering the safety of society,” “causing discord and disturbing public order,” and “spreading terror among people”. He decided to detain Haddad for 15 days pending investigation.

On 22 December 2020, Al-Waqa’ai News published an article entitled, “What about the people!! Has the Pfizer vaccine arrived in secret and is being used to vaccinate senior officials in the Jordanian government?” The article opens with the introductory paragraph: “Until this moment, we (as a people) are still prisoners of contradictory information about Corona vaccines, and if we are within the state’s calculation of its components in obtaining them, or is the matter limited to high-ranking officials in the Jordanian government, as is the general context? With all that is useful, we will be in the last calculations.”

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) expresses its grave concern over the use of the State Security Court as a means to target journalists and restrict freedom of the press.

GCHR urges the authorities in Jordan to:

1. Immediately and unconditionally release journalist Jamal Haddad and drop all charges against him due to their invalidity and infringement of his right to freedom of expression and access to information; and
2. Respect freedom of the press, protect journalistic work, and refrain from targeting journalists in any way.