Two sisters sentenced to 15 years after murdering brother

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an April 2022 Criminal Court ruling sentencing two sisters to 15-years in prison after convicting them of murdering their 26-year-old brother in Aqaba in July 2021. 

On July 31, the court first declared the two defendants guilty of stabbing their brother to death with switchblades as he walked into his house in Dabet Hanout, and handed them the death penalty.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to 15 years because the victims’ families dropped the charges against them. 

Court papers said the two defendants, aged 26 and 24, lived next to the victim’s house with their father. 

A few days before the murder, the court maintained, “the defendant visited them and accused one of the two sisters of involving in an illegitimate affair with one of their male relatives”. 

“The defendant cursed the defendant, beat her up and left,” according to the court papers. 

The beaten sister became enraged, and decided to “murder her brother and asked her sister to help her”, the court documents added. 

On the day of the murder, the court added, the two sisters monitored their brother’s house, and the minute he walked inside, they followed him. 

“The defendants attacked their brother with switchblades and crushed his head with a rock,” the court said. 

After stabbing him repeatedly, the court maintained, the two women headed to the nearest police station and turned themselves in, the court papers said. 

The post-mortem report indicated that the victim received multiple stab wounds to his stomach and chest and died as a result of internal bleeding, the court documents said. 

The defendants contested the Criminal Court’s ruling through their lawyer, claiming that they committed their murder in self-defence. 

 “My clients were protecting their lives and committed the murder in a moment of rage,” the lawyer stated. 

Therefore, "my clients should benefit from a reduction in penalty,” the lawyer told the court.

The lawyer also claimed that the prosecution office presented “contradictory and dubious evidence in the case”. 

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s general prosecutor asked the higher court to uphold the ruling and rebuffed the lawyer's claims. 

However, the higher court ruled that the Criminal Court followed the proper sentencing procedure and the defendants deserved the verdict they received.  

The Court of Cassation judges were Mahmoud Ebtoush, Nayef Samarat, Hammad Ghzawi, Mohammad Khashashneh and Qassem Dughmi.