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Jordanian Ear-Biting Deputies Lose Immunity
by Tareq Ayyoub
AMMAN, May 13 (IslamOnline) - The Speaker of the Jordanian Parliament, Abdul Hadi Majali, on Sunday decided to lift the immunity of two deputies following a fight inside the Lower House' premises where one of them bit off a piece of his colleague's ear during a quarrel.
Majali's decision against deputies Ahmad Oweidi Abbadi and Mansur Murad, which received the approval of the 80-member House, will pave the way for the trial of the two lawmakers in a court of law, deputy Osama Malkawi said.
"Following this decision, policemen can arrest any of the two deputies and submit them to the court," Malkawi told IslamOnline.
The quarrel between Abbadi and Murad, a Chechen lawmaker, occurred inside the Parliament premises when they were exchanging views about a clash between members of Abbadi tribe and Circassians two weeks ago.
The incident started last month when three members of the Abbadi tribe reportedly were trying to molest a Circassian girl, and were subsequently beaten by young men from the girl's community.
Sources said that Abbadis were furious for the mistreatment of their kin at the hands of the Circassians and demanded a trial.
Abbadi issued a statement following the incident and requested that Circassians vacate the Wadi Al Sair area, where they have been living for over 100 years, in line with a tribal custom which stipulates that any party that commits a crime should leave the area where he and his family lives to avoid the reprisal of the tribe of the other party.
Murad criticized Abbadi's request and described such a matter as harming "national unity."
When the two deputies arrived on the Parliament's premises, Murad, who was accompanying the Circassian lawmaker Nayif Moula, was attacked by Abbadi, who bit him and tried to snatch a piece of his colleague's ear.
"I was shocked by the attack which came all of a sudden," Murad told reporters while sitting on his bed in the hospital following surgery.
"He bit my ear and tried to snatch a piece of it," the deputy said. Abbadi confirmed Murad's accounts.
According to the Article 153 of the Internal Law of the Lower House, the speaker has the right to lift the deputy's immunity in case a crime or felony is committed inside the Parliament.
"If a deputy or any other person commits a crime, which is considered a felony, within the premises of parliament, the Speaker's duty bounds to demand his arrest and be detained in a particular place and to hand him over to the judicial authority upon the arrival of their representative [to the Parliament]," the article said.
It was not clear if police will arrest the two lawmakers or will wait until Majali orders Lower House security to detain the couple when they arrive on Parliament premises.
Circassian and Chechen communities in Jordan, who immigrated from the Caucasus area of Russia in the late 1890s, form a unified council to run their affairs. They have three seats in Jordan's parliament.
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