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Ammon News - AMMAN (Jordan Times) — Two Islamist activists were reportedly detained by security forces late last week after attending a debate on the new amendments to the Press and Publications Law, according to the debate’s organisers.

The New Arab Debates (NAD) quoted deputy overall leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Zaki Bani Rsheid, as saying that Islamist activists Tareq Khader and Thabet Assaf were apprehended by security forces as they left the Roman Theatre in downtown Amman, where the debate was held on Thursday.

Bani Rsheid was one of the speakers in the debate, which was attended by some 1,200 people and organised by NAD in cooperation with the local Diwaniyeh youth initiative.

NAD said it was investigating the report of the detention.

After the debate, which was moderated by Egyptian TV presenter Mai El Sherbiny, 85 per cent of the attendees said the amendments to the law, which stipulate that news websites must register with the Press and Publications Department to be granted licence to operate, endangered free speech — a swing of nearly 50 per cent from the pre-debate vote, the NAD statement said.

The event marked the end of NAD’s second debate series and will be broadcast on six Arabic channels, including On TV in Egypt, Hannibal in Tunisia and Deutsche Welle Arabic service.

A second debate, recorded later at the Roman Theatre, discussed the Muslim Brotherhood’s position across the region, following the Egyptian army’s removal of president Mohamed Morsi’s administration.

Just over half the audience — 51 per cent — rejected the notion that the Brotherhood’s power and influence had been seriously damaged by events in Egypt.

NAD are a platform to foster democratic accountability after the 2011 revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.