Slain doctor’s family, other tribes want murder suspect executed

AMMAN — Family members of Jordanian doctor Mohammad Abu Risheh, who was stabbed to death earlier this month, and other Jordanians representing several tribes gathered outside the Criminal Court premises on Wednesday demanding the execution of the suspect in the case, the doctor’s brother said. 

“We want to have the suspect swiftly executed. We trust and believe in our judicial system,” Omar Abu Risheh told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

The Al Bashir Hospital paediatric surgeon, 43, was reportedly stabbed to death by the suspect, who held a grudge over an old dispute regarding the victim’s treatment of one of his daughters.

The family of the 27-year-old suspect, who allegedly murdered Abu Risheh near his residence in Shafa Badran, announced that they were disowning him.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Afif Khawaldeh has charged the suspect with premeditated murder. If convicted, he could face the death penalty as stipulated in the Penal Code of 1960.

Initial investigation indicated that the victim treated the suspect’s one-year-old daughter at Al Bashir Hospital some four months ago. 

The suspect, a father of five daughters, was not satisfied with the treatment and had a scuffle with the victim at the hospital, and was briefly detained at the time, according to official sources.

Since then, “the suspect vowed to take revenge for what he believed was unsatisfactory medical attention, although his daughter was fine after that,” they said.