JERUSALEM — Jordan has rejected a U.S. request to release a former top Jordanian official imprisoned in an alleged plot against the Western-allied monarchy, according to his family and lawyer.
Bassem Awadallah, a dual Jordanian-American citizen, has spent over two years in Jordanian prison after being convicted of plotting against King Abdullah II with the king’s own half-brother. He denies the charges, and his lawyers say he was convicted in a sham trial that lacked due process.
The U.S. State Department requested he be released on humanitarian grounds in March, according to his family and his lawyer. The request came just weeks after he began a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment, resulting in his hospitalization. Jordan rebuked the request earlier this month, according to John Ashcroft, Awadullah’s lawyer.
Ashcroft, a former U.S. attorney general, sharply criticized the refusal, noting that Jordan receives considerable aid from the US and should heed its requests. The U.S. gives over $1 billion a year in aid to Jordan, according to the State Department.
“When our government requested improperly detained fellow citizen, Bassem Awadallah, be released, King Abdullah’s regime without reason said no,” said a statement from Ashcroft’s office. “Our government has been able to convince enemy states to release unjustly detained US citizens. It should be able to convince the king of Jordan to do the same.”
The State Department would not confirm whether it had requested Awadallah’s release.
In a statement, it said the U.S. Embassy in Amman has been following the case closely since Awadallah’s imprisonment and visits him each month. It also said it is monitoring Awadallah’s health, without giving any details on his condition.
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry declined comment.
Jordan is a close Western ally that hosts hundreds of thousands of Mideast refugees and has long been seen as an island of stability in a volatile region. But there also are deep-rooted…
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