The State Security Court sentenced the deputy head of the Muslim brotherhood in Jordan to 18 months in prison for criticizing the United Arab Emirates on social media, a judicial source said on Sunday.

In an article that appeared on various websites and social media in November last year, the opposition politician Zaki Bani Irsheid accused the UAE rulers of sponsoring terrorism and having "no legitimacy"

""The leadership of the UAE is playing the role of American policeman in the area and performs the dirtiest roles to help the Zionist project and is behind all destructive acts against the Muslim and Arab nations' aspirations," Irsheid wrote.

He also criticized the government of the United Arab Emirates for blacklisting Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

Irsheid to appeal

The Muslim Brotherhood, which is the main opposition force in the Jordanian kingdom, referred to the verdict as "politicaly motivated"

"The sentence is harsh. Irsheid did not harm Jordan's relations with the Emirates," said Salem al-Falhat, a Brotherhood member.

"He just expressed his opinion," al-Falhat told Jordanian newspaper al-Ghad.

Irsheid did not comment on the verdict but his lawyer Saleh al-Armuti said he planned to appeal.

International criticism

Jordan and the oil-rich Emirates are close allies and members of the coalition fighting the IS extremists under the leadership of the United States.

Irsheid and his defenders have claimed that his case should be handled by a civilian court, and not the state security court. However, state prosecutor stressed that any act that undermines Jordan's relations with another country falls under the country's anti-terrorism law.

Zaki Bani Irsheid's arrest sparked a wave of criticism among human rights activists both within and outside Jordan, who accuse the authorities of using unconstitutional military courts to curb freedom of expression.

In late 2014, Jordan also arrested several other members of the Brotherhood for publicly criticizing the government foreign policy in relation to Israel.

dj/rc (Reuters, dpa, AFP, AP)