Court hears from prosecution witnesses in Salt hospital case

AMMAN — The Amman Court of First Instance on Thursday heard the testimony of two prosecution witness who worked at the New Salt Public Hospital, where seven coronavirus patients died in March reportedly due to oxygen outage.

The defendants, including the hospital director and other employees, are standing trial in the case on seven counts of causing death by association and for violating articles 343 and 76 of the Penal Code.

The defendants were released on bail by the court over the past few weeks because the law stipulates that they cannot be detained for more than one month based on the misdemeanour charges they face, their lawyers told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

Meanwhile, the families of two patients who died at a later stage filed complaints against the defendants recently, according to Lawyer Amer Qudah.

“The prosecution office decided to refer the two new cases to the court and the presiding judge decided to add them to the ongoing case,” Qudah told The Jordan Times.

The defendants, who pleaded not guilty during their opening trial last week, were tried via a TV feed as a precautionary health measure due to the pandemic.

Among the defendants standing trial were the secretary general of the Ministry of Health, assistant secretary general for Health and Technical Affairs, assistant secretary general for Services Affairs, and the director of the Biomedical Engineering Department.

Over 70 witnesses and experts are expected to testify on matters related to prior knowledge of the Prevention Department in the Civil Defence Department, the contents of the hospitals and staff cameras, duration of oxygen disruption, functionality of the gas system, the deteriorating health status of the patients affected, chest diseases, Building Management System (BMS), and government autopsies results.

The prosecution office has indicated in its investigation that all defendants failed to follow proper caution and consideration of laws and regulations, whether they were from the Ministry of Health or affiliated with the hospital administration.

This, according to the prosecution office, resulted in an oxygen outage at the ICU for around one hour, which ultimately resulted in several deaths and further health complications to the patients who were at the unit on March 13.

Government health officials confirmed that all the deceased in this incident were COVID-19 patients and all were above the age of 40.

The presiding judge adjourned the session until May 16 following the Eid holiday to hear from more prosecution witnesses in the case.