3-year sentence upheld for Jordanian attempting to join Daesh

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a July 2022 State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to three years in prison for attempting to join a terrorist group in January 2021.

The defendant was also convicted of promoting Daesh ideology through social media to gain sympathisers, and was handed the maximum punishment.

Court documents said the defendant was in Turkey in 2020, where he befriended a Syrian national. The two adopted takfiri ideology after following the Daesh group’s activities in Syria on social media.

 “The defendant was convinced that Daesh applied a proper interpretation of Sharia and he decided to spread its ideology using social media,” the court papers said.

The defendant also asked the Syrian man to help him join the terrorist group in Syria via Turkey, the court papers said.

“The defendant returned to the Kingdom briefly, and when he returned to Turkey, he was denied entry and was returned to Jordan where he was arrested by security agencies,” the court documents stated.

The defendant contested the SSC ruling through his lawyer, claiming that “the SCC did not submit any evidence that he used social media to spread Daesh ideology”.

The lawyer also charged that the SSC prosecutor “failed to present any other solid evidence that would implicate his client with the charges”.

The lawyer further revealed that his client was “subjected to torture and duress in order to confess to a charge that he did not commit”.

The SSC general prosecutor asked the higher court to uphold the sentence, stating that the SSC had followed the proper procedures when sentencing the defendant.

The higher court concurred, ruling that the SSC had followed the proper procedures and that the defendant deserved the verdict he had received.

“It was clear that the defendant confessed willingly to his desire to be part of the terror group and the authorities’ investigation procedures were correct and within the law,” the Court of Cassation said.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mahmoud Ebtoush, Nayef Samarat, Qassem Dughmi, Hammad Ghzawi and Mohammad Khashashneh.