Engineers denounce prosecution of peers over suspected false documents

AMMAN — Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) on Sunday pledged to take all necessary measures to protect their colleagues who are called for prosecution after an alleged charge of issuing false documents to engineer members from the West Bank.

During a press conference at the Professional Association Complex, JEA President Ahmad Samara Zu’bi said that the association has been contacting the Minister of Justice and the Prime Ministry to appeal against the decision to detain 10 members of the previous association‘s syndicate for three months, including the former president secretary general and eight council members.

“We were surprised Sunday morning that one of our colleagues [former secretary general] was detained in the airport and banned from travelling,” Zu’bi said, stressing, “we assure everyone that the allegedly false documents are certified and correct by the law.”  

He said that the engineer, who filed the lawsuit claiming the falsity of documents, had previously made several complaints which were all rejected by the court and he demanded the appeal of this new decision. 

Under the current court decision, the membership of previous members in the West Bank will be cancelled, affecting some 19,532 male and female engineers, according to Zu’bi, who noted that this will also entail the closure of the JEA ‘s branch in Al Quds, which contradicts with the association’s laws.

“Article 3 of the Association Law states that the association has two main branches, one in Jordan and another in Al Quds, and they issue memberships to engineers in both Jordan and the West Bank,” the president explained, adding, “the cancellation of the West Bank engineers’ memberships entails returning all the fees they paid and this will deprive them and their families from the association’s benefits including the retirement pensions.”

“We highly respect and trust the justice of the Jordanian law, but we hope that decision makers will take into consideration the national cohesion,” he noted, stressing that the association will continue the issuance of memberships to engineers in the West Bank.

He also announced that a delegation of 17 members from the association’s branch in Al Quds will join the council in Amman on Monday for further discussions.