Court hands down jail sentences to 11 in Al Qaeda terror plot

AMMAN — The State Security Court has sentenced 11 men on Wednesday to as many as 20 years in prison each for their involvement in an Al Qaeda terror plot in what marked one of the largest terror trials in the country’s history.

In a Wednesday ruling, the country’s State Security Court handed down prison sentences ranging from four to 20 years to 11 defendants in the so-called 9/11 terror plot for their involvement in a series of planned attacks against Western diplomatic mission and shopping centres in Amman in October 2012.

In its decision, the court, presided by Judge Ahmed Qatarneh, found all 11 defendants, who range between the ages of 19 and 25, guilty of “intent to carry out terrorist acts, and “illegal possession of explosives and firearms.”

The court sentenced Jaafar Saoud Dardas to 20 years in prison, and 15-year prison sentences each to Abdul Fattah Dardas and Mahmoud Mannaa. The court also levied a 10-year prison sentence to defendants Fawzi Abdul Jabbar Hussein, Mohammad Khater, Abdullah Handam, Ayman Abu Saeleek, Tarek Sharaa, Ahmed Abu Taha.  

Alaa-addin Dirbas and Abdul Rahman Hiyari received a four-year prison sentence each for their involvement in the plot, which, according to court papers, was coordinated with Al Qaeda in Iraq, now known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. 

All the men, none of whom were known members of hard-line Islamist groups, had pleaded not guilty to the charges in late April. 

Wednesday’s decision was met with surprise and “anger” from the defendants and their families, many of whom expected more lenient sentences.

Gasps filled the courtroom as the court read the verdict, which prompted several of the young defendants to chant “God is greater!” and “God will punish you all”. 

Relatives of the defendants expressed dismay over the verdict, insisting their sons were not guilty.

“All these young men had no connection to each other or any Islamist movement whatsoever before their surprise arrest,” said Khaled Khater, who, like many of the defendants’ relatives, had expected authorities to level  2.5-5 year prison terms to his son in line with recent sentences passed in similar cases. 

The relatives said they plan to hold a series of protests over the sentences and aim to appeal the verdicts at the Court of Cassation.

The court heard 16 prosecution and 13 defence witnesses in the 16-month-old trial, which involved over five separate defence attorneys and marked one of the largest and longest terror trials in the country’s history.

According to the charge sheet, the young men had plotted to carry out a series of suicide-bombings and guerrilla-style attacks at the US and British embassies in addition to several shopping centres in western Amman to mark the anniversary of Al Qaeda triple-hotel bombings on November 9, 2005. 

The men’s defence attorneys had previously criticised the court for failing to produce sufficient evidence linking them to any Islamist group throughout the trial, accusing authorities of “obstructing and withholding” evidence in order to secure a guilty verdict.

Wednesday’s verdict came as the latest in a series of prison sentences handed down to suspected supporters of Islamist militant groups, with authorities imprisoning over 50 suspected jihadists since December 2013.