Hiba Abu Taha

Hiba Abu Taha is a Jordanian freelance investigative journalist. In 2024, she became the first journalist to be convicted under 2023 cybercrime law after publishing two articles criticising the Jordanian government's actions during the Gaza war.

Biography Abu Taha is from Ain Al-Basha, Balqa Governorate, and is of Palestinian descent. Through her work as a freelance investigative journalist, she has contributed to various news outlets, including Jordan Today, Al Jazeera, and Daraj.

Arrests and trials

August 2020 arrest In August 2020, Abu Taha was arrested on charges of slander and undermining the government following a 2012 interview she had given with the Associated Press during widespread protests in Jordan against rising gas and fuel prices. She was found innocent and released after one week in detention.

August 2023 arrest and trial In August 2023, Abu Taha was briefly detained after publishing an article on Facebook in which she criticised the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, for his normalisation of ties with Israel. Abu Taha was charged with "defaming an official institution" under article 191 of the Jordanian penal code, and was sentenced to three months' imprisonment in addition to a fine. Abu Taha was critical of the sentence, stating that the Jordanian royal family did not constitute a state institution, citing article 195 of the penal code which specifically criminalised defamation of the king.

October 2023 arrest and trial In October 2023, Abu Taha faced criminal charges after publishing an article alleging that Jordanian hotels were hosting Israeli settlers. In September 2024, she was sentenced to a fine of 5000 JOD.''' The second article, which was published on 28 April and entitled "Partners in genocide: Jordanian capital involved in genocide in the Gaza Strip", alleged that Jordanian authorities were permitting regional companies to ship goods to Israel via the UAE–Israel land corridor at the Jordanian-Israeli border at the Jordan River Crossing and the Wadi Araba Crossing during the Red Sea crisis, in which the Houthis in Yemen started attacking ships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea of vessels headed to Israel. Bisher Khasawneh, the Prime Minister of Jordan, had previously described reports on the existence of land bridges between Jordan and Israel as a "fabrication". Abu Taha was the first journalist to be jailed under the cybercrime law.

Response

National The Centre for Defending Freedom of Journalists, a Jordanian non-governmental organisation, expressed its "deep concern" at the decision of the Soloh Court and the Appellate Court, and warned that there needed to be an urgent review of the cybercrime law and its implications for journalism and freedom of expression.

The Jordanian Democratic Popular Unity Party issued a statement denouncing Abu Taha's imprisonment and described her investigative journalism as part of her right to freedom of expression enshrined in the Jordanian constitution.

In October 2024, "We stand in solidarity with Hiba Abu Taha", an online campaign, was launched by 24 human rights organisations. Women Journalists Without Chains welcomed Abu Taha's release from prison, and called for the immediate repeal of the cybercrime law.