Jordanian writer shot dead outside court before trial over cartoon

World Sunday 25/September/2016 17:27 PM
By: Times News Service
Jordanian writer shot dead outside court before trial over cartoon

Amman: A gunman shot dead Jordanian writer Nahed Hattar on Sunday outside the court where he was to stand trial on charges of contempt of religion after sharing on social media a caricature seen as insulting Islam, witnesses and state media said.
The gunman was arrested at the scene, state news agency Petra said. A security source said he was a 39-year-old preacher in a mosque in the capital.
Hattar was arrested last month after he shared a caricature.
Many conservatives considered Hattar's move offensive. The authorities said he violated the law by sharing the caricature.
The state news agency quoted a security source as saying Hattar was killed by a man who fired three shots at him on the steps of the palace of justice in the Jordanian capital.
"The assailant was arrested and investigations are ongoing," Petra quoted the security source as saying.
Two witnesses said the gunman was wearing a traditional Arab dishashada, worn by ultra conservatives.
Some secular and liberal supporters of Hattar said his arrest last month was a breach of freedom of speech but other Jordanians thought the caricature's publication had crossed a red line.
Hattar was charged with contempt of religion and sowing sectarian tensions. The country's highest official religious authority criticised Hattar.
Hattar had apologised on social media and said he did not mean to insult but had shared the cartoon to mock fundamentalist radicals. He had accused his opponents of using the cartoon to settle scores with him.
Hattar also supported restricting the rights and privileges of Jordanians of Palestinian descent.
The Jordanian government condemned the attack.
"The law will be strictly enforced on the culprit who did this criminal act and will hit with an iron fist anyone who tries to harm state of law," government spokesman Mohammad Momani said.
The Muslim Brotherhood group also warned against a flare up in religious and sectarian tensions in a country.