Revenge shooting lands man 5 years in prison for attempted murder

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a September Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to five years in prison after convicting him of attempting to murder three men in Amman in November 2016 to avenge his brother’s murder.  

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of the attempted murder of three men following a shooting incident on November 1. The defendant was given the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the defendant wanted to take revenge on the victim and his family, because “his brother was murdered by one of them”.

"The defendant was waiting for the right moment to take revenge, and he obtained an automatic weapon," court documents said.

Court documents showed that, on the day of the incident, the defendant headed to the victims’ house with his brother — who was also convicted with the same charges but did not appeal his verdict — armed with machineguns.

“The minute they saw one of the victims and his brother, they opened fire, also shooting at a third family member who was standing on the balcony of his house, then sped off in their vehicle,” according to court transcripts.

The three victims were rushed to a nearby hospital and survived the shooting incident, the court papers added.

The defendant contested the verdict through his lawyer, who argued: “My client is innocent and the court relied on contradictory statements by the witnesses in this case.” 

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the five-year sentence.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

“The evidence against the defendant is very strong and he failed to provide any evidence that proves his innocence,” the Court of Cassation ruled.

The higher court also added that the witness’ testimonies were accurate and that “there were no contradictions”.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Bassim Mubeidin, Majid Azab, Yassin Abdullat and Naji Zu’bi.