Sameer Nemrawi is a Jordanian teacher and political activist who has expressed his support for Palestine, notably calling for demonstrations in support of Gaza, and criticised the Jordanian authorities on his social media platforms. He has been arrested and prosecuted numerous times in connection with his activism and online posts.
The Jordanian authorities began targeting Nemrawi during the Arab Spring, when he participated in street demonstrations and posted comments critical of the authorities on news websites. In response, members of his family received threatening phone calls from state authorities warning that he must cease his activism. After sensing that he was under surveillance and facing intimidation by state security services, Nemrawi became engaged in a verbal dispute with the Director of Education in al-Qasr District, in which he criticised the King for appointing incompetent officials to positions of authority. Following the circulation of news of this incident, Nemrawi was instructed to report to the State Security Court on September 10, 2012, where he was charged with “insulting the King”. The presiding judge requested that Nemrawi declare his loyalty to the King in exchange for his release, but Nemrawi refused. He was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment by the State Security Court, despite this being a military court, and the Jordanian Constitution prohibiting the trial of civilians before military tribunals.
Nemrawi was held at Jweideh Prison, where he was placed among hardened criminal offenders. During his detention, he was subjected to physical torture and beatings carried out by agents of the Public Security Directorate. As the injuries from these beatings were visible on his body, prison officials restricted his access to family visits. His ability to retrieve personal funds from the prison safekeeping department was also obstructed.
On November 22, 2012, Nemrawi was released on bail.
On July 17, 2017, Nemrawi was summoned to the Eastern Police Station in Irbid under false pretences, ostensibly to discuss a matter concerning a former employee of Nemrawi, but upon arrival, found that he himself was the subject of the inquiry. He was arrested and charged with “incitement against the regime” and “promotion of terrorist ideology online” under the Counter-Terrorism Law. The charges were based on an article he published criticising Israeli-installed electronic barriers around al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and a Facebook post where he expressed support for retaliation against Shiite militias in Iraq. His Facebook page was also shut down by the authorities. Throughout the proceedings, Nemrawi and his legal counsel repeatedly requested that his Facebook page be restored to allow the submission of exculpatory evidence, but all requests were rejected. His case was heard before the State Security Court, again in violation of the constitutional prohibition on the trial of civilians before military tribunals. He was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment, which was subsequently reduced to three years. His appeal was rejected approximately two months before the completion of his sentence, and in November 2019, he was released on bail.
On October 30, 2022, at approximately 1:30 a.m., Nemrawi was arrested during a large-scale security raid on his home. Without presenting an arrest or search warrant, security forces surrounded the property, arrested him, and searched his house for electronic devices. He was taken to a police station and subsequently transferred to the Cybercrime Unit, where he was informed that his arrest was based on various Facebook posts in which he had discussed activities of the General Intelligence Directorate, criticised corruption and police conduct, published information about the King’s brother who had reportedly been placed under house arrest, and commented on a matter publicly known as the “fried tomato issue”, which refers to the Pandora Papers leak that exposed the King’s royal real-estate holdings abroad.
Following his arrest, he was placed in administrative detention by the Governor of Irbid for 42 days without any judicial process. He was subsequently charged under the Cybercrime Law with “defamation of an official body” and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment by the Bani Kenana Court.
On November 7, 2023, while he was absent from his home, Nemrawi’s house was raided by security forces, who had no search warrant. His home and furniture were left severely damaged. The same day, he was arrested on a street in the Irbid governorate by members of the General Intelligence Directorate (GID) and the Preventive Security branch of the Public Security Directorate (PSD), who dragged and beat him. He was subsequently transferred to the Cybercrime Unit in Abdali, Amman.
Nemrawi was charged under the Cybercrime Law with “unlawful gathering”, “spreading false news targeting the national security and community peace”, and “defaming a legal personality”, the latter referring to the King and Director of Intelligence. The charges were based on various Facebook posts, including screenshots of WhatsApp conversations with an intelligence officer, the publication of the officer’s name, statements holding the King and the Director of Intelligence responsible for the prosecutions brought against him, photographs documenting the damage caused to his home during the security raid to arrest him, and content expressing support for the Palestinian cause. He was sentenced to one year in prison by the East Amman Criminal Court and transferred to Marka Prison.
While in prison, Nemrawi was subjected to psychological pressure and intimidations. At the beginning of April 2024, he was deprived of family visits. On April 28, 2024, Nemrawi’s elderly mother came to Marka prison in an effort to visit him, but members of the PSD and prison administration denied the visit. During the month of April, he was only allowed to contact his family on one occasion, during which he communicated to them that this deprivation of family visits was a form of reprisal for his support for Gaza.
On May 5, 2024, Nemrawi’s sister went to Marka prison to visit her brother, but members of the prison administration and the Preventive Security branch of the PSD informed her that he had been charged with “resisting security personnel” while in detention in Marka prison. They informed her that, as a consequence, Nemrawi was denied visits until further notice, and the prison administrator finally allowed her to visit him for no more than five minutes, upon the condition that the visitation denial would remain in force until a decision was issued by the prison administration.
During Nemrawi’s sister’s short visit to her brother, he told her that he had been severely beaten by members of the GID and of the Preventive Security branch of the PSD. He explained to her that he did not resist them, and held that his charge of “resisting security personnel” was a false charge brought against him by the Marka prison administration and the Preventive Security branch of the PSD.
Shortly after, Mr Nemrawi was transferred to Ma’an prison in southern Jordan, where visits were permitted again. However, since Ma’an Prison is approximately 350 kilometres away from his family, they were unable to visit him frequently.
During his detention, he was also physically assaulted by two inmates at the instigation of a prison officer. Despite filing a formal complaint against this, no remedy was provided.
On August 26, 2024, Nemrawi was released from prison.
On October 11, 2024, Nemrawi was arrested again. On October 13, 2024, he was presented before the public prosecutor in Amman and charged under the Cybercrime Law for “defamation of an official body”. The charges stemmed from an article he had published, which criticised the poor state of Jordanian prisons and the ill-treatment of prisoners, as well as a post where he condemned the blocking of his Facebook account by the official Jordanian Public Security Facebook page. He was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment by the East Amman Civil Court. However, the effective period of imprisonment was extended to approximately one year following the addition of a previously suspended three-month sentence from his third arrest, a one-month sentence arising from a dispute with a police officer on charges of insulting a public employee, and the enforcement of a six-month sentence arising from a dispute with a university professor in 2013. Nemrawi was held first at Marka Prison in Amman and subsequently transferred to Tafileh Prison.
On December 18, 2024, MENA Rights Group submitted a general allegation to UN Special Procedures regarding the ongoing crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists in Jordan, which includes the detention of Nemrawi.
On August 11, 2025, Nemrawi was released. Approximately one week before his release, he was subjected to physical abuse and humiliation by prison officials. In response, Nemrawi filed a formal complaint, and a representative from a Jordanian human rights body visited him; however, no further action was taken.
Despite his release, Nemrawi remains at risk of re-arrest due to additional cases that have been fabricated against him during his detention at Marka and Tafileh prisons.
