Jordan's Sanaa Mihyar freed

A woman in Jordan’s anti-corruption panel was released Tuesday, a day after being detained for alleged graft over the purchase of trucks five years ago when she was on Amman’s municipality board. “Sanaa Mihyar was released today without bail after she was detained yesterday,” her lawyer Rateb Nawayseh told AFP. Mihyar and Amer Bashir, a former deputy mayor of Amman, were charged Monday with abusing their positions for approving the 2007 purchase of two sanitation trucks outside of a tender offer. “Bashir was released on a $14,000-bail, pending the trial,” Nawayseh said. Prosecutors have ordered the assets of Mihyar, Bashir and six other people frozen, according to a judicial official. Mihyar and Bashir, who are barred from leaving the country, face up to three years in jail if convicted. Mihyar, a member of Jordan’s anti-corruption commission, headed the country’s Housing and Urban Development Corporation in 2007. Bashir was also detained and released on bail in January in a separate case, following the arrest of former Amman mayor Omar Maani on fraud charges. In February, Jordan’s former spy chief Mohammad Dahabi was detained for alleged money laundering, abuse of power and embezzlement charges, following a central bank complaint against him. Jordanians have held regular protests since January 2011 to demand sweeping reforms and tough action against corruption.