Jordan | Former police officer sentenced to death for revenge murder

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a November 2022 Police Court ruling sentencing a former police officer to death after convicting him of murdering a man to avenge his brother’s murder in Amman in October 2017.

The court declared the defendant guilty of shooting and killing the victim multiple times on October 10 and handed him capital punishment.

The court also decided to demote the defendant’s rank from lieutenant to an officer and discharged him from service.

Court papers said the defendant plotted to murder the victim shortly following his brother’s murder by a close relative of the victim.

The defendant monitored the victim’s movements with the help of two of his friends, the court papers said.

“The defendant bought three mobiles and gave two to his friends so that they could help him in monitoring the victim’s movements and decide on the right day to kill the victim,” the court added.

On the day of the murder, the court maintained, the defendant was informed by his two friends that the victim was getting into a taxi and heading to an area near the University of Jordan.

“The defendant replaced the front plate of his vehicle with a fake one and removed the back plates and followed the taxi the victim was riding in,” the court papers added.

When the taxi stopped at a red light, the court added, “the defendant jumped from his vehicle, ran towards the cab and fired two shots at the victim”.

One bullet struck the victim in the head, the court added.

The victim was rushed to Jordan University Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

The defendant sped off with his vehicle to an unknown destination, the court maintained.

The defendant contested his verdict at a higher court through his three lawyers who called for his acquittal arguing that the Police Court’s prosecution office did not follow proper legal procedures.

The lawyers also claimed that “the prosecution office did not provide any solid evidence to implicate their client in the murder”.

“The police prosecution office depended on contradictory witness statements and did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that our client was the person who pulled the trigger,” the defence team stated.

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

The higher court ruled that the Police Court followed the proper procedure when sentencing the defendant.

“The Police Court prosecution office provided solid evidence that implicated the defendant and, therefore, he deserves the punishment he received,” the higher court ruled.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mahmoud Ebtoush, Majid Azab, Ibrahim Abu Shamma, Hayel Amr and Brig. Gen. Mohammad Omari.

In the past four years, 63 people were sentenced to death in Jordan. Currently, there are 219 convicts on death row in Jordan, including 22 women, according to local activists.

Between 2006 and 2014, Jordan maintained an eight-year pause on the death penalty, which ended in December 2014 when authorities executed 11 individuals for various crimes.

Article 93 of the Constitution reads that “no death sentence may be carried out unless ratified by the King. Every such sentence shall be submitted to him by the Council of Ministers along with the council’s view on it”.

Source: jordantimes.com, Rana Husseini, September 30, 2023

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