Cassation Court upholds 12-year sentences for two gang members

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation upheld an October State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing two men to 12 years in prison each after convicting them of posing as Anti-Narcotic Department (AND) agents to rob people and businesses in Amman in early 2019.

The court declared the defendants guilty of forming a gang to rob people and establishments after posing as security agents and handed them 15-year prison terms each.

However, the SSC decided to reduce the sentence to 12 years in prison for each of the two defendants “to give them a second chance in life to correct their paths”.

Court papers said the defendants, who were friends, decided to make quick cash by robbing people and businesses in Amman and decided to start by targeting people on the Airport Road.

On March 6, 2019, the two parked next to a vehicle and one of the defendants got out from the car and identified himself as an AND agent to the driver, court papers said.

"The defendant flashed a fake AND identification card and took the victim’s wallet which contained JD304 and fled the scene," court papers said.

Few weeks later, the two headed to Madaba and “ordered” a car to stop, the court said.

The court added that the two stole the victim’s watch, JD30 from his wallet and the spare tyre of his vehicle.

A few hours later, the court maintained, the two defendants returned to the Airport Road and “this time they pulled over a vehicle, produced fake AND identification badges and ordered the passengers to get out of the car,” court papers said.

“The two defendants robbed the passengers of their money, mobiles and the vehicle they were driving,” the court papers said.

The following day, the two defendants “robbed their last two victims of JD2,210 near the Airport Road”, court papers said.

The two defendants were arrested by police on March 27 following several complaints from the people who had been robbed, the court papers added.

The defendants, through their lawyer, contested the court’s ruling arguing that the “court overlooked some evidence provided by the defence”.

“The prosecution witnesses failed to identify my clients as the culprits in the series of robbery incidents that were listed by the SSC prosecution,” the lawyer charged.

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

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