Jordan prosecutor issues media gag order on assault of Egyptian in Amman

Ahram Online , Monday 8 Aug 2016

Ibrahim Darwish
A photo that went viral last week for 28-years-old Ibrahim Moustafa Darwish while being injured in hospital in Jordan (Photo courtesy of social media)

Jordan's attorney-general imposed on Monday a media gag order on a case related to the assault of an Egyptian by Jordanians in Amman, Egypt’s state-owned MENA agency reported.

In a document sent to Jordanian media, the attorney-general said that the gag order is to protect the secrecy of investigations in the case. The order mandates that media outlets in Jordon not publish information or news related to the case or the ongoing investigations.

The decision comes one week after photos of an unconscious 28-year-old Ibrahim Mostafa Darwish, showing his arms and legs in casts and his face covered in welts, went viral online and stirred a wave of controversy.

According to Egyptian and Jordanian news reports, Darwish, who works as a bouncer at a nightclub in Jordan, was kidnapped and tortured nearly to death before being dumped in the desert by a group of men working for a Jordanian businessman.

Friends of Darwish said online that Darwish had been involved in a fight with the businessman's brothers at the nightclub where he was working.

Egypt said on Saturday that it was following Darwish's case through its envoy in Jordan.

This is the second high-profile incident in less than a year where an Egyptian expat in Jordan was mistreated.

In October 2015, a video showing a Jordanian MP and his brothers physically assaulting an Egyptian waiter also went viral and sparked anger in Egypt. The MP and his brothers reportedly later apologised to the waiter.

Short link: