Court maintains 20-year sentence in Jerash murder case

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation upheld a June Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to 20 years in prison after convicting him of murdering a 27-year-old man in Jerash in April 2017.

The court declared the defendant guilty of stabbing a victim to death on April 8, following a heated argument and handed him the maximum punishment.

Court documents said the defendant engaged in a heated argument with the victim following a minor traffic accident in their neighbourhood. 

“The argument became heated and the defendant drew a kitchen knife and stabbed the victim three times, striking the victim’s heart and stomach,” court documents said. 

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

The defendant contested the Criminal Court’s ruling charging that he “did not plot the murder and that he killed the victim in self-defence”.

However, the Court of Cassation rejected his claims and ruled that the Criminal Court’s ruling was accurate and that the defendant deserved the sentence he received.

The Court of Cassation was comprised of judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Yassin Abdullat, Saeed Mugheid, Hamad Ghzawi and Naji Zu’bi.