Jordan court frees preacher jailed for incitement

Jordan frees an Islamist preacher imprisoned for nearly a year for inciting hatred against the regime on social media, his lawyer says, following criticism from rights campaigners.

Iyad Qunaibi, a 40-year-old Kuwaiti-born Jordanian, was arrested last June for posting an audio message entitled “Jordan on the brink of the abyss” on his Facebook page.

In it he criticizes Jordanian relations with Israel and the “Westernization” of Jordanian society.

Qunaibi, who holds a doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Houston in the United States, was sentenced in December to two years in prison, which was increased to three years on appeal. But the State Security Court reduces the sentence and frees Qunaibi based on time already served, his lawyer Abdelkader al-Khatib says.

— AFP

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