Alkarama confirmed the release of Jordanian student Mahmoud Al Etewi on 24 May 2026, after 27 months in detention, following a trial that did not meet the standards of a fair trial, on charges of accessing internet sites deemed “contrary to the rules”.
Alkarama had submitted a communication to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on 18 March 2025 concerning the young Al Etewi, a Jordanian student arrested by the General Intelligence Department in Zarqa on 26 February 2024 and accused of accessing internet sites that the authorities considered “contrary to the rules”.
After his arrest, Mahmoud Al Etewi was transferred to the Jandawil Intelligence Centre in Amman, where he was held incommunicado for 81 days. He was only brought before the military prosecutor on 16 May 2024, when the charges were formally filed against him. During this period, he was subjected to torture and inhuman detention conditions that seriously affected his mental health.
Al Etewi was held in Al-Muwaqqar 2 prison, where his family, who were able to visit him after a long period, reported a significant deterioration in his health due to ill-treatment. His father filed a complaint for torture with the judicial authorities, but no action was taken.
His trial was held before the State Security Court, a special court composed of two military judges and one civilian judge, whose independence and impartiality are regularly questioned by human rights organizations. The trial, marked by serious violations, ended on 2 February 2025 with a three-year prison sentence for “promotion of terrorism”, a charge often used in Jordan and other Arab countries to target journalists, political opponents and activists on social media. The lawyer appealed the verdict, and the court later reduced the sentence to 27 months.
In its communication to WGAD experts, Alkarama denounced the use of torture to extract confessions under duress and highlighted serious violations of the right to a fair trial before an independent and impartial court. It called on the Working Group to recognize the arbitrary nature of Mahmoud Al Etewi’s detention and urged the Jordanian authorities to annul his conviction and release him immediately.
Alkarama welcomes his release and again calls on the Jordanian authorities to investigate allegations of torture and ill-treatment. It also stresses the need to respect human rights and ensure fair trials in all circumstances, and to stop the misuse of anti-terrorism and cybercrime laws to restrict freedoms, including the right to access information.