Jordanian woman 'receives phone call from King Abdullah' after conviction for insulting him

A Jordanian woman's conviction for insulting King Abdullah has sent shockwaves in Jordan.

2 min read

15 April, 2021

The woman was convicted for "misusing her tongue against the King" [Getty]

A Jordanian woman received a phone call from King Abdullah after being handed a prison sentence for insulting him, according to media reports.

Days after being convicted for insuling the monarch, Athar Nawwaf Abd Al-Karim Al-Dabbas claimed in an unverified Facebook post from an account bearing her name that she had received a call of support from the king.

The unverified post said that the king told her to "keep your spirits high; you are a sister to me".

An Amman court on 29 March convicted Al-Dabbas, 34, of a misdemeanour for "misusing her tongue against the king", The New Arab’s Arabic-language service reported.

The offending remark came amid a dispute at a carpark with Amal Hussein, a journalist and peace ambassador, according to media reports.

Hussein allegedly said: "His Majesty is above all, and there is no one higher than him. Your father is below him."

Al-Dabbas replied: "Who mentioned the king? To me, my father is better than the king and the entire world."

For this, she was handed a one-year sentence, but the court subsequently ruled that the prison term would be suspended, The New Arab's sister reported.

In the Facebook post mentioning the phone call from the king, Al-Dabbas added that she "feel[s] proud of His Majesty as the father of each Jordanian man and woman".

Twitter Post

"And you are our father, our leader, our sovereign, and a crown over our heads," she continued.

The authenticity of the profile has not been confirmed.

News of Al-Dabbas' jail sentence sent shockwaves through Twitter.

Many have begun using an Arabic hashtag translating to "My father is better than the king".

Commenters often also included Arabic-language hashtags related to the former Crown Prince Hamzah, who was accused of participating in a 'coup' against the king earlier this month.

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