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Jordanians demand release of activists, end to corruption

Jordanians have staged nationwide protest rallies to demand an end to corruption and the immediate release of activists leading calls for reforms.

Hundreds of Jordanians took to the streets across the country, including the capital, after the Friday Prayers, demanding the release of 19 detained political activists charged with insulting the king and also calling for fast and real reforms.

”The country is being destroyed because reformists are jailed while the corrupt are protected,” former MP Ahmad Kafawin of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood told demonstrators in the capital, Amman.

Mohammed Harasis, a spokesman for the youth movements said, “We demand the authorities immediately free the activists. Do they deal with the corrupt the same way they treat those who call for reform?”

The accused activists will be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Demonstrators also called for the dissolution of the 12-member Lower House of the parliament over its weak performances. They also slammed the elections draft law and called for serious reforms in the kingdom.

Similar protests were also held in the southern cities of Tafileh and Karak as well as in Zarqa and Irbid in the north.

Jordanians have been holding street protests demanding political reforms, including the election of the prime minister by popular vote, and an end to corruption since January 2011. There have been no calls for the king to be removed from power.

Since the beginning of protest rallies, Jordanian ruler, King Abdullah II, has sacked two prime ministers in a bid to avoid more protests. Awn al-Khasawneh is Jordan’s third premier this year.

The king has also amended 42 articles of the 60-year-old constitution, giving parliament a stronger role in decision-making.

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