Court upholds 8-year prison terms for 3 men for attempted murder with sword

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a January 2022 Criminal Court ruling, sentencing three men to eight years in prison each after convicting them of attempting to murder two men with a sword in Amman in June 2019.

The Criminal Court declared the defendants guilty of attempted murder on June 16 and sentenced each a 12-year prison term. However, the victims withdrew their charges and the court opted to reduce their sentences to eight years.

Court papers said the victims and the defendants engaged in a street brawl in one of the capital’s streets. "Sharp weapons were used by both parties and both the victims and the defendants were injured during the brawl," court documents stated.

The verdict maintained that the three defendants were able to overpower one of the victims “where they stabbed him with knives and a sword on his head”.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital with severe injuries to his skull, where he maintained a critical condition, the court added, and the rest of the victims and the defendants also received the necessary medical intervention.

“The victim survived the assault due to medical intervention,” the court stated.

The defendants contested their verdicts via their lawyers arguing that there were “legal errors in the trial procedures”.

“The Criminal Court relied on weak and unreliable evidence in the case,” the lawyers argued according to court documents.

The Criminal Court’s attorney general requested the higher court to uphold the sentences passed against the defendants.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and that the defendants were given the appropriate punishments.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Nayef Samarat, Hammad Ghzawi, Qassem Dughmi, and Yassin Abdullat.