Jordan to Announce Verdict in Sedition Case Monday

Police officers stand guard outside the State Security Court in the Jordanian capital Amman. (File/AFP)
Police officers stand guard outside the State Security Court in the Jordanian capital Amman. (File/AFP)
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Jordan to Announce Verdict in Sedition Case Monday

Police officers stand guard outside the State Security Court in the Jordanian capital Amman. (File/AFP)
Police officers stand guard outside the State Security Court in the Jordanian capital Amman. (File/AFP)

Jordanian State Security Court is expected to issue a verdict Monday in the "sedition" case, involving the former head of the royal court, Basem Awadallah, and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, according to the defense lawyer.

"The State Security Court set Monday's hearing for the reading of the verdict," bin Zaid's lawyer Alaa al-Khasawneh told AFP on Tuesday.

He spoke after a hearing in which a 23-page dossier was presented summarizing the case for the defense.

The defense team asked the court to "find both clients innocent of the charges against them," according to Khaswaneh.

Mohammad al-Afif, the lawyer of Awadallah, pleaded the innocence, declaring that if the decision were issued against his client, he would appeal at the highest judiciary court in the country.

Charges against Awadallah and Zaid carry sentences up to 30 years in prison.

The two main defendants in the sedition case, which was linked to the former Jordanian Crown Prince, Prince Hamzah bin al-Hussein, face charges of agitating to undermine the kingdom's political system and acts that threaten public security and sowing sedition.

They are also accused of possession of narcotic substances with intent to use.

The indictment included details of the scheme to exploit social events to incite strife and social media against the Jordanian government and King Abdullah II within a series of steps that they were planning to execute.

The Jordanian monarch decided to "handle the question of Prince Hamzah within the framework of the Hashemite family" after entrusting the case to his uncle, Prince Hassan bin Talal.

Prince Hassan asked Prince Hamzah to sign a letter in which he affirmed he would remain faithful to the ancestors' legacy. He stressed that he will always be ready to help and support the King and the Crown Prince.

During last week's session, the State Security Court rejected the defense attorneys' request to summon 25 witnesses.

The list of defense witnesses included the prince himself, Princes Hachem and Ali, Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh, Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi, and twenty others. It also consists of a British communications expert, who was part of significant cases, including the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The court sessions of the 'sedition' case started on June 21, 70 days after the arrest of the accused, Awadallah and Zaid.

Prior to the trial, local media published audio leaks of the defendants with Prince Hamzah, including messages exchanged with Awadallah.

The audio messages led to unveiling a plan targeting the security of Jordan by backing protests against the poor economic and social conditions aiming to create chaos.



Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.

In a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday, al-Sharaa said that his administration would not allow for arms outside the control of the state.

An official source told Reuters on Saturday that Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, had been named as defense minister in the interim government.
Sharaa did not mention the appointment of a new defense minister on Sunday.
Sharaa discussed the form military institutions would take during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA said.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said last week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks with al-Sharaa in Damascus.

Jumblatt expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he added.