AMMAN (Al Jazeera) – When Jordan’s Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein relinquished his title on April 3, official media outlets remained silent, wary of stepping out of line with the country’s authorities.
King Abdullah II’s half brother was the first royal in the kingdom’s history to make such a move, which came a year after he was accused of plotting against the king.
Since the announcement, in which Hamzah said his “personal convictions” were “not in line” with Jordan’s current institutions, confusion has lingered among the Jordanian public, with rumors that he was forced to sign an apology letter that was published by the Royal Court a month ago.
Hamzah’s announcement came as Jordan experiences a wave of public dissatisfaction, a crackdown on dissenting voices, and censorship of media outlets, the majority of which have still not been reported by the media.
“Our silence proved again that we are controlled, we work within a certain agenda, that we are not independent or impartial,” Khalid Qudah, an Amman-based political commentator, told Al Jazeera.
Hamzah’s criticisms of the Jordanian authorities hit a raw nerve, particularly as many of those opposed to King Abdullah II, but supportive of the institution of the monarchy, saw him as an alternative.
The sensitivity of the topic is therefore clear, and in a media landscape where the security services frequently pressure journalists not to publish articles on certain topics, few have dared to touch the subject.
“The Jordanian authorities want to silence opposition voices and this is terrifying,” said Mohammad Ersan, the editor-in-chief of two Jordanian media outlets. “Especially if you are an independent journalist – you worry every day that someone will knock on your door to arrest you.”
The Jordanian government has recently cracked down on activists, journalists, and union members, carrying out “preemptive” arrests. While silencing political dissent has become routine practice, arrests based solely on intent are seldom seen in the kingdom.
“Now, there is a new method of arrests, not based on what they [those arrested] do, but rather on their intent of doing something,” said Qudah, who is also on the board of the Jordan Press Association. “This is more dangerous; it is a big transformation.”
At least 150 people were arrested in the month preceding Hamzah’s statement, according to a recent report published by Democracy for the Arab World Now, a regional NGO. The report noted that the arrests were tied to the government’s efforts to prevent anti-government protests.
Jordanian authorities have been unsettled ever since Hamzah publicly criticized Jordan’s “governing structure” and accused it of corruption and incompetence.
While Hamzah said he had been placed under house arrest at the time, the government attempted to put a line under the matter, wary of his popularity and evidence of a divide between Jordan’s elite.