Cassation Court upholds jail sentences in murder, sodomy case

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld an April Criminal Court ruling sentencing two men to prison terms ranging from 25 to 13 years for the murder and sodomy of a man in the Jordan Valley in March 2012.

The Criminal Court declared the main defendant, a repeat criminal offender, guilty of murder and sodomy and handed him 25 years in prison.

“The sentence for such offences is usually 20 years, but because the defendant is a repeat offender, the tribunal decided to increase the prison term by five years,” the Criminal Court ruled.

The second defendant received a 13-year-and-four-month prison term for complicity in murder.    

The Criminal Court said the defendants and the victim met in prison and remained friends afterwards.

A few days before the incident, the court transcripts said, one of the main defendant’s friends informed him that the victim claimed that they both engaged in sexual activities, which angered the defendant.

On February 29, the two defendants headed to the victim’s house to investigate his claims.

“The victim denied the claims, but the defendants did not believe him. They pinned him to the ground and the main defendant sexually assaulted him then stabbed him in the waist,” the Criminal Court said.

The defendants took the victim in their car, dumped him in front of his family’s home and fled, according to the court.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died on March 3, the court added.

The defendants contested the verdict, claiming that their intention was only “to harm the defendant to scare him, not kill him; therefore, they deserve a lower sentence”, the court said. 

However, the Cassation Court, which issued its ruling recently, ruled that the Criminal Court followed the proper procedures and the punishment was appropriate.

The Cassation Court tribunal comprised judges Mahmoud Ababneh, Basel Abu Anzeh, Yassin Abdullat, Mohammad Tarawneh and Bassem Mubeidin.