Man’s 10-year sentence upheld for premeditated murder of sister

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a January Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to 10 years in prison after convicting him of the premeditated murder of his divorced sister in an Amman suburb in May  2014.

The Criminal Court had found the man guilty of the premeditated murder of his sister, who was divorced a few months before the murder on May 1, handing him a 20 year sentence.

However, the sentence was immediately reduced by half because the victim’s family dropped charges against the murderer.

Court papers said that on the day of the murder, the defendant went to visit his father, where the victim was also staying.

The defendant took the victim to a room and started questioning her about an alleged relationship, the court added.

“The defendant drew a gun and shot her once in the chest and started beating her head with an ashtray, then left,” the court added.

The victim’s sisters, who were also in the house, attempted to defend her but were stopped by the perpetrator, their brother, the court added.

The defendant had asked the court to reduce his sentence as stipulated in Article 98, because “he committed the murder in a moment of rage”, according to the 10-page verdict.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court general attorney had contested the Criminal Court ruling, stating that “the defendant gave conflicting accounts of his knowledge of his sister’s alleged immoral behaviours, the higher court stated”.

At one point, the general attorney said, the perpetrator states that “the victim’s family had knowledge of her alleged relationship with a man, and in another account, the defendant claims that he learnt of the alleged immoral behaviour on the day of her murder”.

“It is clear that the premeditated condition is there, and that the defendant should not benefit from a reduction in penalty,” the general attorney said.

The Cassation Court, which issued its ruling late last month, ruled that the Criminal Court’s ruling falls within the law, that the proceedings were proper and that the sentence given was satisfactory.

The Court of Cassation comprised President of the Court of Cassation Judge Hisham Tell and judges Basel Abu Anzeh, Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zu’bi and Hussein Sakran.