Mechanic receives 10-year prison term for joining terrorist group

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a July State Security Court (SSC) ruling the sentencing of a mechanic to 10 years in prison after convicting him of joining terrorist groups in Syria in 2014.

The court declared the defendant guilty of joining terror groups while he was residing in Syria in 2014 and handed him the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the defendant, whose father is Jordanian and mother is Syrian, was born in Yarmouk Camp in Syria but later moved to Jordan.

“The defendant went back to Syria in 2011 and started protesting against the Syrian regime,” court transcripts noted.

In 2014, court papers maintained, the defendant decided to “join Daesh terror group who were fighting in his area in Syria”.

"The defendant underwent training by the terror group and was taught to use a machinegun,” court transcripts said.

The court added that Daesh decided to delegate him as a mechanic to fix their vehicles, since this was his original profession.

"The defendant then decided to visit the Kingdom and travelled to Amman via Lebanon, but was arrested at Queen Alia International Airport on November 30 of last year," court papers said.

The defendant contested the verdict through his lawyer, who argued that the SSC’s verdict was “harsh” and that the defendant is “young and deserves a second chance in life”.

Meanwhile, the SSC's general attorney had asked the higher court to uphold the ruling, stating that the court had abided by the proper legal procedures when sentencing the defendant.

The higher court ruled that the SSC had followed the proper procedures when sentencing the defendant and that he deserved the verdict he had received. 

“Reducing a sentence falls within the jurisdiction of the SSC and the court decided that he should not benefit from a reduction in penalty, and we also uphold this ruling,” the Court of Cassation said.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zubi, Yassin Abdullat, Bassim Mubeidin and Saeed Mugheid.