Ten-year-jail term for man who killed another for revenge

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a February Criminal Court ruling sentencing  a 30-year-old man to ten years in prison after convicting him of murdering a man who stabbed him in the neck in Mafraq in August 2013 .

The court first handed the defendant the death penalty after convicting him of shooting to death Saeed Hashem on August 19 five years ago.

However, the court decided to immediately reduce the sentence to ten years because the victim’s family dropped charges against the defendant.

Court papers said the defendant and the victim would often quarrel and, two days before the incident, Hashem stabbed the defendant in the neck.

“The defendant told a witness that he was very upset that he was stabbed by Hashem and that he was plotting to kill him,” court documents said, adding that the defendant asked his friend to “secure him with a pistol and monitored the movements of the victim”.

On the day of the incident, the defendant followed the victim and shot him once in the chest and fled, the court transcripts stated.

The defendant was later arrested by the police who also seized a weapon and five bullets on him, the court said.

The Court of Cassation ruled that the Criminal Court followed the proper procedures when sentencing the defendant and that he deserves the verdict he received. 

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zubi, Yassin Abdullat, Hamad Ghzawi and Majid Azab.