There has been much written in the papers during the past week about the detention of two columnists for some televised statements they made, in which they questioned the involvement of Jordan's intelligence service in Afghanistan. While I strongly believe that a country should do what is in it's power to protect its citizens - and this includes cooperating with foreign intelligence agencies - I also strongly believe in everybody's right to say what they want and express their ideas.
The 2 columnists, Mwaffaq Mahadin and Sufyan Tal, were released on bail yesterday, however they have been charged among other things with "harming the Kingdom’s relations with a foreign country" which if found guilty could make them spend up to 15 years in prison.
There is nothing wrong in having different opinions and certainly it is not "dangerous", in the contrary it is a healthy and important part of democracy, a country should take pride in not being frightened of its citizens opinion.
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