20-year jail term upheld for man who killed former in-law

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June 2022 Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to 20 years in prison after convicting him of murdering his former in-law in Maan Governorate in May 2021.

The court declared the defendant guilty of shooting his former in-law, aged 35, following a heated argument on May 2 and handed him the maximum punishment for the manslaughter charge. 

Court papers said the victim divorced his wife and she went back to live with her family along with their two children. 

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, the victim visited the defendant’s house to discuss matters related to his children. 

“An argument ensued between the two and the victim pulled a knife from his pocket while the defendant got hold of a gun,” court papers said. 

The two men then engaged in a physical altercation that ended with “the defendant shooting his former in-law four times in the chest, head and other parts of his body”, the court papers stated. 

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead on arrival, the court added. 

The defendant contested his verdict through his three lawyers arguing that he shot the victim in self-defence. 

“Our client shot the victim to protect himself since the latter pulled a knife while at his house,” the lawyers argued.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s general attorney asked the Court of Cassation to uphold the ruling. 

The higher court affirmed that the Criminal Court followed the proper procedure in sentencing and the defendant deserved the verdict he received. 

The higher court also ruled the self-defence condition does not apply in this situation “since the victim only waved the knife and did not attack the defendant with it”. 

In addition, the higher court stated that the defendant “did not have to kill the victim after shooting him the first time”. 

“The defendant fired four rounds but he had the chance to shoot him once to stop him as he claimed,” the higher court stated. 

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Ibrahim Abu Shamma, Fawzi Nahar, Hayel Amr and Majid Azab.