Jordan Times
Sunday, August 6, 2006
Verdict expected today
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN — The State Security Court (SSC) is expected to issue a verdict today in the case of three Islamist deputies, standing trial on charges of fuelling national discord and inciting sectarianism, judicial sources said on Saturday.
The SSC prosecution asked the court last week to convict the three deputies “who betrayed the Jordanian people by their actions.”
The deputies pleaded not guilty to the charges in their opening trial on July 24. Last week, the deputies stressed in their closing arguments that visiting Abu Mussab Zarqawi’s condolence tent “does not constitute a crime under Jordanian law.”
If convicted of the charges, the defendants could receive a maximum of three years in prison.
Islamic Action Front MPs Ali Abul Sukkar (Zarqa, Second District), Mohammad Abu Fares (Amman, Fifth District) and Jaafar Hourani (Zarqa, Fourth District) were arrested on June 11 following a condolence visit to Zarqawi’s family.
Zarqawi, who was killed in a US air strike in Iraq on June 8, claimed responsibility for the November terrorist attacks against three of the capital’s hotels, which left 60 people dead and scores injured.
In a televised interview following the visit, Abu Fares allegedly described the former Al Qaeda in Iraq leader as a “hero and a martyr and the people killed in the Amman bombings were not martyrs.”
The MPs do not currently have parliamentary immunity because the Lower House is in recess.