Jordan's king tells government to be accountable, after protests

12 Dec, 2011

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Sunday urged the country's three branches of government to match international standards of accountability, in the wake of weekly pro-reform demonstrations.
The monarch met with leaders of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary at the royal palace, where he told them that "there should be no one above the law and there should be no immunity for anybody."
"Citizens have been fed up with rhetoric and slogans and they want to be sure that their rights are reserved, corruption is punished and that the state's institutions are run according the international standards of justice, accountability and transparency," he added.
Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh pledged to ensure protection for participants in demonstration and to deal firmly with those whho target peaceful protesters Khasawneh, a former International Court of Justice (ICJ) jurist, alluded to accusations by pro-democracy activists that the security authorities were responsible for several attacks on protesters over the past nine months.

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