(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Over two dozen Jordanians on Tuesday gathered to demand the release of 16 people arrested for allegedly chanting "illegal slogans" at demonstrations over the past week, as authorities arrested another member of the protest movement.
In a noon rally in front of the Palace of Justice in Amman, some 30 demonstrators accused the government of "strangling" freedom of speech.
During the protest, participants denounced the detainees' referral to the State Security Court, chanting "No to trying civilians at a military tribunal", and "The State Security Court is standing between us and our freedoms."
"The trial of these young men in a military court is both illegal and a human rights violation," said Mamoun Haraseen, the detainees' defence attorney.
Relatives and friends of the detainees, many of whom were arrested on similar charges earlier this year, say the men are in "good health" and "resting comfortably" in surroundings that have become all too familiar.
"Unfortunately, our members are becoming used to prison conditions. There are no longer any surprises," Free Tafileh Movement member Mohammed Qatatsheh, who visited the detainees on Tuesday, told The Jordan Times.
Activists link the recent string of arrests to the upcoming parliamentary elections, accusing the authorities of attempting to "silence the street" ahead of the polls.
"Since the state does not want us on the streets encouraging people to boycott the polls, they decided to lock us up instead," Qatatsheh charged.
Meanwhile, a Karak resident was arrested on Tuesday for reportedly chanting illegal slogans earlier this week, raising to 17 the total number of protesters detained over the past two weeks.
According to a security source, police arrested Adi Khanatneh for chanting slogans deemed "insulting" to the Royal family at a Karak sit-in on Sunday.
Tuesday's arrest marked the latest in a string of arrests of protesters stretching back to the detention of Tafileh resident Mohammed Maabreh for insulting the Royal family during a pro-reform protest in the southern city earlier this month.
At an evening rally the same day participants allegedly began chanting slogans deemed "threatening to the regime", resulting in the arrest of six demonstrators, while several others were arrested on similar charges during a string of protests over the past week demanding their peers' release.
The detainees face charges of "slandering the King", "undermining the political regime", and "illegal assembly" - offences that could collectively land each detainee in prison for up to 10 years.
Participants contend that their rallies were peaceful and that their slogans fell within the lines of the law, which penalise speech deemed threatening to national unity and security.
In various statements, security officials have maintained that the jailed protesters had acted outside the law and "violated all Jordanian norms and standards of decency".
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