Former Jordanian MP Tujan Faisal was re-arrested on the eve of a press conference she was due to give Saturday, two days after her release from jail, judicial sources told AFP.
State court prosecutor, Colonel Mohannad Hijazi, ordered the arrest on Friday on charges of defaming the state, spreading information in other countries harmful to the state and defaming Islam. All the offences carry prison sentences and a trial is expected to be set soon.
Overnight, the national news agency Petra said the prosecutor ordered her arrest because "she continued to spread false information that harm the country and the dignity of its people".
Faisal planned to give a press conference at her home Saturday to discuss her arrest and the charges against her, according to a statement faxed to AFP Thursday, the day after Hijazi ordered her release from jail.
She was set free on the guarantee of four prominent members of the Circassian community which she belongs to, including two former cabinet ministers.
Faisal, 52, was arrested on March 16 for a renewable 15-day period after accusing Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb of "profiting financially" from a government decision to raise taxes on car insurance by 100 percent.
She made the allegations in an e-mail message to Jordan's King Abdullah II on March 6 and later gave a television interview repeating those accusations which the government flatly denied. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
