Court hears prosecution witnesses in lawyer immolation case

AMMAN — The Criminal Court on Thursday heard the testimonies of six prosecution witnesses, including three police officers, in the case of three men who are standing trial on charges of setting a fire that led to the death of two lawyers at their office in Amman last June.

The charred bodies of the two lawyers, Mohammad Zawawi, 42, and Moayad Rafaiah, 29, were discovered on June 27, 2016 by Civil Defence Department (CDD) rescue teams, who were called in to extinguish the fire at the advocates’ office in a commercial building in the capital’s Qweismeh suburb. Investigators concluded that it was arson.

Two of the three defendants were arrested shortly after the incident occurred, while the third, who was first considered a witness by the authorities, was detained at a later stage after investigations indicated that he was reportedly involved in the incident.

Two police officers testified in court to examining the crime scene after the CDD extinguished the fire, while a third officer who works at the crime lab testified to downloading the phone numbers that were on the victims’ mobiles.

Also testifying during the three hour court hearing, two attorneys, whose office is opposite to the victims in the five-storey building told the tribunal that they heard a loud explosion and when they rushed out of their office, they saw heavy smoke coming from the victims’ office.

The two lawyers said they attempted to extinguish the fire, “but the safety hose that was in the building was out of water”.

The lawyers said they had to wait for the CDD to extinguish the fire because they could not enter the office due to heavy smoke and flames.

A mechanic whose shop was next to the building also testified for the prosecution on Thursday, telling the court that he was walking near his shop when he heard a man shouting “for God’s sake help me”.

The mechanic said that the voice was coming from the victims’ office and when he looked towards the window, he saw smoke coming from it.

Like the two lawyers, the mechanic rushed to the office to help, but was hindered by the thick smoke.

The main defendant in the case, who was a client of the two victims, was charged with setting a fire that led to the death of a human being. The two other defendants are standing trial for complicity in setting a fire that led to the death of a human being.

The defendants have pleaded not guilty.

The incident occurred over an alleged dispute related to around JD1,500, which the main defendant claimed he won in a case the victims had represented him in and failed to notify him of the amount, the charge sheet said.

The defendant has claimed that he called one of the victims to inquire about the money on several occasions, but the lawyer ignored his calls, according to the charge sheet.

On the day of the incident, the charge sheet added, the defendant asked his friend, the second defendant, to accompany him, bought paint thinner and headed to the lawyers’ office to discuss the matter.

“The defendant claimed that he had no intention of killing anyone and that he only intended to threaten the victim, pouring the flammable substance on the office’s door,” the charge sheet maintained.

The sheet added that the defendant “used a lighter, and fire spread in the room, trapping both lawyers, so he fled in his car and left his friend behind”.

When the defendant heard in the news that two men died, the charge sheet added, “he turned himself in”.

Walid Al Adwan, head of the public freedoms committee at the Jordan Bar Association, and Ibrahim Hayek , a committee member, attended Thursday’s hearing.

“The victims were our colleagues, and they were killed while performing their duties. The two victims are part of the association and we are all one family,” Hayek told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

A government autopsy has indicated that the victims were alive when they were set ablaze.

If convicted of the charges, the main defendant in the case could face the death penalty.

The court adjourned the session until March 16 to hear more prosecution witnesses in the case.