Man gets 20-year prison sentence for fatal stabbing at wedding party

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to 20 years in prison after convicting him of murdering his cousin during a wedding in Zarqa in September 2017.

The court declared the defendant guilty of stabbing the 24-year-old victim while at a wedding party in Wadi Hajar area on September 7 and handed him the maximum punishment.

Court papers said that the victim went to attend a relative’s wedding when an argument ensued between him and the defendant.

 “The defendant went to his car and grabbed a switchblade and returned quickly to the wedding,” the court said.

The minute he saw the victim he stabbed him once in the heart, court papers added.

The victim died as a result of stab wounds he sustained to his heart.

The defendant contested the court ruling arguing that he killed the victim in self-defence and in a “moment of rage”, according to court documents

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s attorney general  asked the higher court to uphold the ruling.

The higher court ruled the Criminal Court followed the proper procedures when sentencing the defendant, and that he deserved the verdict he had received. 

The Court of Cassation bench comprises judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zu’bi, Bassem Mubeidin, Hayel Amr and Yassin Abdullat.