On Saturday, Jordanian parliamentarian Yahia Soud celebrated his victory in Jordan’s September 20 elections. In typical Jordanian fashion, his party in East Amman included celebratory gunfire. However, in the shooting frenzy, a bullet struck one of Soud’s female cousins, killing her. Jordanians are now calling for Soud to be put on trial on Twitter.
The Arabic-language hashtag “try Yahia Soud in court” began trending on Saturday and is still trending today. Although overshadowed by the social media response to the assassination of Nahed Hattar yesterday, many Jordanians have taken to Twitter to demand Soud appear in court over the incident.
A common theme among the hashtag yesterday was that Soud should not be above the law due to his status as a parliamentarian.
يحيى السعود ليس منزها فوق القانون... يجب محاسبته#فليحاكم_يحيي_السعود
— Wajdi Smirat (@IAmWSmirat) September 26, 2016
Yahia Soud’s house is not above the law. He should be held accountable.
الحصانة تحمي النائب تحت القبة ليقول ما يريد بحرية
— عمرو مسروجة ™ (@AmrMasroujeh) September 24, 2016
مش عارف من متى الحصانة بتمكن شخص يكون فوق القانون !#فليحاكم_يحيى_السعود
Immunity protects the deputy by allowing them to say what they want freely. I don’t know since when it allows them to be above the law!
Some even compared the Soud controversy to the more covered Nahed Hattar assassination, arguing that the shooting deserves attention too.
لا تنسوا قضية #فليحاكم_يحيي_السعود بسبب قضية #ناهض_حتر فالاولى جريمة زي الثانية بالضبط.#الاردن
— Shadi Rawashdeh (@sh_rawashdeh) September 25, 2016
Don’t forget the issue of Yahia Soud because of the issue of Nahed Hattar. The first is as much a crime as the second.
Soud is not thought to have fired the shot that killed his cousin, and the video evidence does not show that. He’s thought to be responsible by some since the shots were being fired at his party. Three different men have been arrested thus far in connection to the death.
And this actually isn’t the first shooting controversy involving Soud. In September 2013, Soud was sent to jail by an Amman court for incitement. The arrest stemmed over a shooting in the Jordanian parliament when a different MP pulled a gun on and another and fired shots at him during an argument. Soud was released after a few days.
AL
