Jordan Times
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
IAF deputies’ trial to start next week
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN — The trial of three Islamist deputies arrested in June is expected to
start early next week, a senior judicial source said on Tuesday.
“The prosecutor finished preparing the indictment sheet and charged the deputies
with fuelling national discord and inciting sectarianism,” the source told The
Jordan Times.
Their case was then forwarded to the State Security Court (SSC), which is
expected to start the trial next Sunday or Monday, the judicial source added.
Islamic Action Front (IAF) MPs Ali Abul Sukkar (Zarqa, Second District),
Mohammad Abu Fares (Amman, Fifth District) and Jaafar Hourani (Zarqa, Fourth
District) were arrested on June 11, along with Deputy Ibrahim Mashoukhi (Zarqa,
First District), who was released earlier this month.
The deputies’ detention came following remarks they made allegedly praising the
former Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Mussab Zarqawi as a “martyr” and a “holy
warrior.”
Zarqawi was killed in a US air strike in Iraq on June 8.
The deputies also visited Zarqawi’s family in Zarqa to offer condolences,
triggering nationwide condemnation.
The deputies’ comments angered many citizens, including relatives of victims of
the Nov. 9 terror attacks in Amman, which killed 60 and were claimed by Zarqawi.
Eight families of the deceased have filed lawsuits against the deputies over the
comments.
“By ignoring the feelings of Jordanians and the victims’ families, the three
deputies turned their backs on their fellow Jordanians...,” the SSC charge sheet
said.
According to court documents, Abu Fares and Abul Sukkar delivered a speech while
paying condolences to Zarqawi’s family praising him, while Horani listened
without objecting to the content of the speech.
“By glorifying Zarqawi, the deputies are sending the wrong message to youth by
justifying terrorism and equating terrorist acts with jihad, as well as
encouraging someone like Zarqawi as their idol,” the prosecution said.
Later, according to the charge sheet, Abu Fares told an Arab satellite channel
that Zarqawi was a “martyr, but victims of the bombings were not.”
The deputies do not currently benefit from parliamentary immunity because the
Lower House is in recess.