State Security Court hears testimony of prosecution witness in ‘sedition’ case

AMMAN — The State Security Court (SSC) on Tuesday heard the testimony of a prosecution witness in the case of former minister Bassem Awadallah and Sharif Hassan Bin Zeid.

The two defendants are standing trial at the SSC on charges of sedition and plotting incitement acts against the regime.

They pleaded not guilty during their opening trial on Monday.

The SSC prosecution sheet also included a charge against Sharif Hassan Bin Zeid of possessing illegal narcotics (hashish).

As was the case on Monday, the session was closed to the media and the public. The SSC justified its decision in view of the circumstances of the case, its proceedings and the evidence that will be presented during the trial, which is related to the security and secrets of the state and the public order, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The court’s decision came in accordance with the laws pertaining to the relevant courts that allow the SSC to conduct the trial in secret without prejudice to the rules and procedures of the fundamental fair trial and the guarantees for the defence, Petra added.

Meanwhile, the SSC prosecutor rested its case during Tuesday's session, opening the door to the defence to start presenting their evidence and witnesses, according to Petra.

The court adjourned the case until Sunday.

If convicted of charges of incitement and sedition, the two defendants could get between three and 20 years in prison, according to the lawyers.

Awadallah and Sharif Hassan Bin Zeid and other suspects in the case were arrested in April for “security reasons”.

The charge sheet said the two defendants were friends for a long time because of the nature of their work and connection to HRH Prince Hamzeh.

For a while, the charge sheet added, Prince Hamzeh was aiming to become the ruler of Jordan, which is against the Constitution and “took advantage of certain incidents in Jordan, including the COVID-19 pandemic, to create chaos and frustration in Jordan”.

The prince, backed by Sharif Hassan, launched "attacks and criticism against His Majesty the King with hopes of gaining popular support and eventually becoming the ruler of Jordan," according to the charge sheet.

Prince Hamzeh and Sharif Hassan Bin Zeid met on a regular basis to discuss means of achieving their goals and the latter suggested the name of Awadallah to help them with the needed international support to utilise their plot, the charge sheet said.

Awadallah also pushed Prince Hamzeh “to crticise and weaken the strong position of the King towards the Palestinian cause, the issue of Jerusalem and the Hashemite Custodianship of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites”, the charge sheet stated.

In March 2021, Prince Hamzeh took advantage of the oxygen outage at the New Salt Public Hospital that claimed the lives of eight patients to send hidden messages against the regime that was aimed to cause unrest, the charge sheet said.

“The prince recorded a five-minute video whereby he held King Abdullah accountable for what happened in the hospital and his ultimate aim was to provoke the public to revolt against the regime and clash with the security forces,” the charge sheet maintained.

On March 13, the SSC prosecution office received a tip-off that the two defendants were conducting suspicious activities that would undermine the safety and security of the country and they were put under surveillance for one month, the charge sheet said.

The SSC prosecution office intercepted several coded messages between the two defendants and Prince Hamzeh that were mainly encouraging him to “go ahead with the plans and used the letter ‘H’ in one of the messages as a sign to start the provocative movements”, the charge sheet added.

On April 3, the charge sheet continued, the defendants were arrested and their plans that would have caused “grave threat to the national security and stability of the country and the system were thwarted”.