Jordan king pardons 46 Islamists, continuing major amnesty

Nov 27, 2011, 13:14 GMT

Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II on Sunday pardoned 46 Islamists, the second batch to be freed under a government pledge to free all political prisoners, judicial sources said.

In the past, Jordan has accused adherents of a fundamentalist brand of Sunni Islam, Salafism, of being 'terrorists,' and the 46 were convicted by the State Security Court of plotting acts of terrorism.

King Abdullah issued a first special amnesty earlier this month freeing 12 Salafists who were serving jail terms.

'The government plans to free all political prisoners belonging to the so-called terrorist groups, to give them a chance to rectify their behaviour and return to society's fold,' Minister of State for Media Affairs Rakan Majali said.

Though 58 have been freed so far, at least 22 convicted Salafists are still in jail waiting to be set free, judicial sources said.

Dozens of other Salafists, who were detained for attending a rally in April in the city of Zarqa, have been released on bail over the past couple of weeks. The release of the Salafist detainees follows months of demonstrations by their relatives for their freedom.