3 men get 10-year prison terms for plotting subversive acts

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an August State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing three men to 10 years in prison each for plotting subversive acts against security agencies and liquor shops in Zarqa in July 2019.

The defendants were also convicted of promoting Daesh’s ideology through social media to gain more sympathisers and were handed the maximum punishment.

Court documents said the defendants, who were friends, adopted the takfiri ideology in 2016 after monitoring the Daesh group’s activities on social media.

“The defendants were convinced that Daesh applied the proper Sharia [Islamic law] and decided to spread its ideology to their friends and relatives using social media applications,” court documents said.

In late 2018, the defendants decided to form a terrorist army unit to conduct terrorist activities in Zarqa against liquor stores and the headquarters of the General Intelligence Department (GID), court papers said.

The defendants decided to use a car rigged with explosives to attack the GID building and also decided to abduct one of the department’s personnel, according to court documents.

“The defendants surfed the Internet to get information on how to manufacture explosives and how to rig a vehicle,” court papers said. 

However, they were all arrested before being able to carry out any of their plans, the court papers added.

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

The defendants contested the SSC ruling through their lawyers, claiming that “the SCC did not submit any evidence that they used social media to spread the Daesh ideology”.

The lawyers also charged that the SSC prosecutor “failed to present any other solid evidence that would implicate their client with the charges and that there were faults in the investigation procedures”.

“Our clients were subjected to torture and duress to confess to criminal plots that they did not commit,” the lawyers charged.

However, the higher court ruled that the SSC had followed the proper procedures and the defendants deserved the verdict they had received.

“It was clear that the defendants confessed willingly to their 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 Bassem Mubeidin, Mohammad Khashashneh, Saeed Mugheid, Majid Azab and Hayel Amr.