Activists in Jordan sentenced for distributing 'Rabaa' flyers

A Jordanian court slapped three activists with suspended six-month jail terms each for distributing flyers bearing the four-finger "Rabaa" sign, symbolizing solidarity with supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, a lawyer for the defendants said Wednesday.

Jordan's State Security court had earlier downgraded the charges against the defendants from "harming relations with a friendly country" to "possessing flyers," lawyer Abdel-Qader al-Khatib told the Anadolu Agency.

He said the verdict was the first time for a Jordanian State Security Court to hand down a "suspended" sentence.

Jordanian activists Hammam Qafisha, Ayman Bahrawi and Diaa Shalabi were all arrested in September 2013 after distributing flyers bearing the pro-Morsi "Rabaa" symbol.

They were later released on bail pending trial on charges of "carrying out acts banned by the government" and "harming relations with a friendly country."

The symbol commemorates last year's violent dispersal by Egyptian security forces of a major pro-Morsi protest encampment in Cairo's Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square, which left hundreds of protesters dead.

Jordan was among the first countries to welcome the army's ouster of Morsi – Egypt's first freely elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader – following opposition protests last year.