Appeal of JEA council members’ imprisonment at Cassation Court approved

AMMAN — Justice Minister Awad Abu Jarad on Monday approved referring a ruling to the Court of Appeals, which entails imprisonment for members of the 26th Jordan Engineers Association’s (JEA) council, to the Court of Cassation.

Abu Jarad told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that the decision was made due to the fact that the Court of Cassation is the higher judicial commission in the Kingdom and because the case deserves to be examined by this court.

The Amman Criminal Court had previously issued an imprisonment ruling of three months against JEA council members after accusing them of issuing false documents approving the membership of engineers, who do not carry national numbers and work at the JEA branch in Jerusalem.

JEA President Ahmad Samara Zu’bi has recently said that Article three of the association's law states that the syndicate has two main branches, one in Jordan and another in Jerusalem, and they issue memberships to engineers in both Jordan and the West Bank.

Zu’bi, in a press conference on the issue that was attended by The Jordan Times, added that the cancellation of the West Bank engineers’ memberships entails returning all the fees they paid and this will deprive them and their families from the association’s benefits, including retirement pensions.

Under the current court decision, the membership of previous members in the West Bank will be cancelled, affecting some 19,532 male and female engineers, according to Zu’bi, who noted that this will also entail the closure of the JEA‘s branch in Jerusalem, which contradicts the association’s laws.