20-year jail term upheld for man who killed in-law

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a March Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to 20 years in prison after convicting him of murdering one of his in-laws, who had sexually assaulted one of his sisters, in March 2014. 

The court declared the defendant guilty of fatally shooting the victim on March 7 in an Amman neighbourhood and handed him the maximum sentence. 

The tribunal decided to amend the premeditated murder charges originally pressed against the defendant to manslaughter “because the court concluded that he did not plot to murder the victim”.

Court papers said that, almost 10 years before the incident, the victim had been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of molesting and raping the defendant’s sister.

The victim served his sentence and was released in January 2014.

On March 7, the court maintained, the defendant went to a neighbourhood to visit his friend and spotted the victim “walking in the street and the two exchanged words that became heated”.

“The defendant and the victim began scuffling. The defendant then drew a gun he was carrying and shot the victim multiple times in different parts of his body,” according to court documents.

The defendant had contested the Criminal Court’s ruling and asked for a lesser sentence, since he “committed the murder in a moment of rage, as stipulated in Article 98 of the Jordanian Penal Code”.

“The victim, who is an in-law, sexually assaulted the defendant’s sister… and my client committed the murder in a fit of fury after fighting with him,” the court papers quoted the defendant’s lawyer as saying.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s general attorney appealed the verdict, asking the higher court to consider the case as one of premeditated murder.

The Cassation Court rejected the defendant’s claims that “he committed the murder in a moment of rage”, because “he could have simply left the area instead of fighting and shooting the victim”.

The higher court also stated that the Criminal Court’s general attorney failed to provide any evidence to corroborate his claims that the murder was committed in a premeditated fashion.

The Criminal Court ruled that the proceedings were accurate and correct and that the defendant received the appropriate punishment.

The Cassation Court comprised judges Hisham Tel, Basil Abu Anzeh, Naji Zubi, Mohammad Ibrahim and Mohammad Tarawneh.