Cassation Court upholds sentence for man who shot factory owner

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a February Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to 10 years in prison for attempting to rob and murder a man in Amman.

The Criminal Court found the defendant guilty of threatening, robbing and shooting a factory owner while at his office in an industrial area on October 10, 2011 and handed him the maximum punishment.

According to court papers, the defendant had visited the victim’s factory one month before the incident to demand compensation “for the wrongful imprisonment of his brother”.

“The defendant believed that his brother was wrongfully imprisoned for seven years for drug possession because of false claims by the victim,” the court stated.

The defendant asked the victim to pay him JD1,000 for each of the seven years his brother spent in prison, according to court papers.

The victim refused, the court maintained, “so the defendant plotted to rob and kill him”,

On October 10, 2011, the court added, the defendant went to the factory again, entered the victim’s office and “shot him twice in the chest and arm”.

“The defendant snatched the victim’s mobile and his car keys and left, but later was overpowered by the victim’s colleagues while attempting to steal his vehicle,” court transcripts said.

The defendant contested the Criminal Court ruling at the Cassation Court, charging that the court “did not follow the proper procedures or question enough witnesses in his case”.

The attorney general also appealed the verdict at the Cassation Court stating that “the defendant deserves the punishment he got”.

The Cassation Court, which issued its ruling in June, said the Criminal Court’s proceedings were proper and the sentence the defendant received was satisfactory.

The Cassation Court tribunal comprised judges Yassin Abdullat, Mohammad Tarawneh, Daoud Tubeleh, Bassem Mubeidin and Hussein Sakran.