Jordan’s King Abdullah approves 4th general amnesty

Jordan’s King Abdullah II yesterday approved a “general amnesty” law presented to him by parliament.

According to a statement from the Royal Court: “Today, Tuesday, the royal decree was approved on the general amnesty law for the year 2024, in the form approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.”

The parliament’s two chambers approved the draft general amnesty law last week and now, after the king’s approval, the law should be announced in the official gazette and become effective and enforceable.

The draft covers felonies, misdemeanours, violations and criminal acts before 19 March 2024 and allows for all criminal charges and original or subsidiary penalties related to those crimes to be dropped, in addition to exempting defendants from fines and fees.

The draft excludes 38 crimes, most notably those related to state security, public authority, destruction of records, terrorism, weapons, ammunition, explosives and drugs.

A previous amnesty was issued in 2019, covering around 8,000 prisoners convicted of defamation, insults, contempt and violations of foreigners’ residence and labour laws, as well as fines for violating income tax, general sales tax and customs laws.

The first amnesty to be issued during King Abdullah’s reign was in 1999 and was followed by another In 2011.

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