Court upholds 15-year jail term for man who killed his friend while intoxicated

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an April 2016 Criminal Court ruling sentencing a 41-year-old man to 15 years in prison after convicting him of murdering his friend in May 2003.

The defendant was declared guilty by the Criminal Court of murdering his friend while they consumed alcohol and handed him a 15-year prison term on May 7, 2016.

Court papers said that on the day of the incident, the defendant and the victim, who lived in the same neighbourhood, met at a liquor store and decided to go to a secluded area to consume alcohol.

“The defendant had had an argument with his wife, and she went to her family’s home with her daughters. He informed the victim about the incident while they consumed alcohol,” court papers said.

The victim, the court maintained, “cursed the defendant’s wife and daughters and accused them of immoral behaviour, which angered the defendant”.

“The defendant grabbed a rock and crushed the victim’s skull with it, then pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim repeatedly until he was sure he was dead,” according to court papers.

The Criminal Court attorney general appealed the verdict, stating that the defendant deserves a tougher punishment “because the murder was premeditated”.

However, the Cassation Court ruled that the Criminal Court’s verdict was correct and that the defendant received the appropriate punishment.

The Cassation Court tribunal comprised judges Basil Abu Anzeh, Yassin Abdullat, Mohammad Tarawneh, Daoud Tubelieh and Hussein Sakran.