Cassation Court upholds conviction of man who murdered cousin

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a March Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to 20 years in prison for murdering his relative in the Jordan Valley in 2014.

The defendant was convicted of stabbing his cousin near a mosque in Southern Shuneh on January 31, 2014. He died two days later in hospital as a result of a single stab wound to the stomach.

Court papers said the defendant learnt that the 17-year-old victim was harassing his sister when, on the day of the incident, he answered her phone and heard the victim say “I love you.”

“The defendant then heard love songs on the phone and asked his mother to ask his sister if she was involved in a relationship with the victim,” the court said.

The defendant’s sister denied any relationship “but he still was furious, went to a shop and bought a knife and started looking for him”, court transcripts said.

When the defendant found him near a mosque, “he asked him about his alleged affair with his sister, which he denied”, according to the court.

“The defendant then drew a knife and stabbed the victim once in the stomach and fled,” the court papers said.

While running from the scene, the court continued, “the defendant saw two of his relatives and informed them that he stabbed the victim and asked them to take him to hospital.”

The defendant’s lawyer contested the verdict, saying that his client should benefit from Article 98 of the Penal Code, which stipulates that a person who commits a crime in “a fit of fury” caused by an unlawful act on the part of the victim receives a reduced penalty. 

But the Cassation Court, which issued its ruling a few months ago, said the Criminal Court’s ruling falls within the scope of the law and that the proceedings were proper and the sentence satisfactory.

The Cassation Court tribunal comprised judges Mahmoud Ababneh, Basel Abu Anzeh, Yassin Abdullat, Mohammad Tarawneh and Hussein Sakaran.