5-year jail term for man who helped his aunt 'get rid of her husband'

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a January 2017 Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to five years in prison after convicting him of attempting to murder his aunt’s Sudanese husband in Maan in March 2016.

The court declared the defendant guilty of shooting the victim on March 15 “because his wife wanted to get rid of him” and handed him a ten-year prison term.

However, the ruling was immediately reduced to half because the victim dropped the charges against the defendant.

The victim’s wife received a three year and four month prison sentence for complicity in attempted premeditated murder.

Court documents said the victim would constantly fight with his wife and “she decided to get rid of him and notified the defendant who agreed to help her”.

On the day of the incident, the defendant hid behind a vehicle “waiting for the victim to arrive home”, the court said, adding that “the minute he saw him, he jumped from behind the car and fired six rounds at him striking him in the head and chest”.

The victim’s wife, the second defendant, rushed to check on her husband and called for medical assistance, the court maintained.

The defendant contested the ruling arguing that “he did not intend to kill the victim, but only to harm him”.  

However, the higher court ruled that the Criminal Court followed the proper proceedings when sentencing the defendant deserves the verdict he received.

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