University student handed 9 years for terrorist plot against police

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a July State Security Court (SSC) ruling sentencing a university student to nine years in prison for plotting subversive acts in Jordan in August 2022.

The defendant was also convicted of promoting Daesh ideology through social media, and was handed the maximum punishment.

Court documents said the defendant adopted takfiri ideology in 2021 after monitoring the Daesh group’s activities on social media.

“The defendant was convinced that Daesh applied the proper Sharia, and he decided to spread its ideology using various social media outlets,” the court papers said.

The defendant also used various social media outlets to get in touch with leaders of the terror group and “pledged his allegiance to them”, according to the court documents.

“The defendant plotted to attack a police station guard in Amman with a knife, then use the officer's weapon to attack the rest of the officers on duty,” the court maintained.

The defendant was arrested by security forces on August 2 before he was able to carry out any of his plans, the court maintained.

The defendant contested the SSC ruling through his lawyer, who claimed that the SSC prosecutor “failed to present any other solid evidence that would implicate his client with the charges”.

The lawyer further argued that the sentence was “harsh”, and that his client “should benefit from a reduction in penalty, because he is young and deserves a second chance in life”.

“My client is a 20-year-old university student and would like to continue his education,” the lawyer stated.

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

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

“It was clear that the defendant confessed willingly to his 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 Mahmoud Ebtoush, Majid Azab, Ibrahim Abu Shamma, Hayel Amr and Mohammad Sharari.