Suspects in Mazen Diab murder trial plead not guilty

AMMAN — Four men charged with the premeditated murder and robbery of Lebanese radio talk show host Mazen Diab at his home in an Amman suburb in August last year, have pleaded not guilty to the charges, a lawyer said on Wednesday.

The four suspects are standing trial at the Criminal Court for the murder of the 31-year-old, who worked at Sawt Al Ghad local radio station.

Diab was found dead with his hands tied behind his back in his apartment in the Prince Rashed neighbourhood near Mecca Mall in west Amman on August 15, 2014.

“The court set March 17 as the date to start hearing testimonies of the prosecution witnesses,” Hussam Edin Abu Rumman, the lawyer representing Diab’s family, told The Jordan Times on Wednesday.

Abu Rumman said “he is still contemplating his next legal step and will decide with the Diab family once the verdict is out and final.”

The four suspects met the victim through the Internet, and “convinced him that they wanted to be his friends, but in reality they wanted to rob and kill him”, the charge sheet said, adding that they entered Diab’s apartment as friends.

The suspects strangled Diab with a traditional head dress, filled two bags with his belongings, and left the apartment carrying the stolen items; two of the men dropped one bag and fled when they saw a police vehicle in the area.

When police searched the bag, they found the mobile, discovered the murder and arrested the suspects after reviewing footage from cameras placed on a building near the victim’s apartment.

If convicted of the charges, the suspects could face the death penalty.