20-year jail term for man who murdered ex-employee after argument

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a March Criminal Court ruling sentencing a 48-year-old merchant to 20 years in prison after convicting him of murdering a former disgruntled employee in October 2012.

The court declared the man guilty of fatally shooting his former employee, named Raed Ahmad, on October 12 and handed him the maximum punishment.

Court papers said the two men had a heated argument shortly after Ahmad quit working for the defendant and, as a result of the feud, the “victim set the defendant’s vehicles ablaze”.

“The defendant decided to retaliate and, on the day of the murder, he saw Ahmad driving his car so he approached him, beat him up then shot him in the head," the court verdict added.

A witness who was with the victim ran out of the car towards a police patrol that happened to be in the area, court transcripts said, adding that, meanwhile, the defendant placed the victim in his car and drove to a nearby hospital while being chased by the police patrol.

“The defendant struck a vehicle during the chase and, the minute he reached the hospital he dropped Ahmad’s lifeless body off and escaped from a side door,” the court added.

The defendant contested the Criminal Court’s ruling charging that the verdict relied on “unreliable witnesses who all have previous criminal records and provided contradictory testimonies during the trial”.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court followed the proper procedures and the defendant deserved the verdict he received.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zu’bi, Yassin Abdullat, Saeed Mugheid and Bassem Mubeidin.