SSC prepares charge sheet in ‘sedition case’

AMMAN — The State Security Court’s (SSC) prosecution office on Wednesday completed its investigation and prepared the charge sheet in what is known as the “sedition case” involving a former royal court chief and other defendants.

Former minister Bassem Awadallah, Sharif Hassan Bin Zeid and other suspects in the case were arrested in April for “security reasons”.

The SSC prosecutor concluded the investigation and prepared the charge sheet against the defendants, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

“The SSC prosecutor sent the charge sheet to the general prosecutor for a final examination before taking further legal actions,” Petra reported, quoting a senior judicial source.

In late April, SSC military prosecutor Brig. Gen. Hazim Majali announced that the initial investigation results revealed that involved individuals “adopted different roles, which would constitute a clear threat to the security and stability of the Kingdom”.

On April 3, Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi said in a press conference that between 14 to 16 people were arrested for attempting to jeopardise the safety and stability of Jordan.

Fifteen of the 17 defendants were released recently on bail with the exception of Awadallah and Sharif Bin Hussein due to their various roles and levels of involvement in the case that are different from others, according to officials close to the investigations.