Cassation Court upholds 3-year sentence for man spreading terrorist ideology

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June 2022 State Security Court (SSC) ruling sentencing a man to three years in prison for spreading terrorist ideology through social media in Jordan in 2015.

The defendant was convicted of promoting Daesh ideology to gain more sympathisers through social media and was handed the maximum punishment.

Court documents said the defendant adopted takfiri ideology in 2015 after monitoring the Daesh group’s activities on social media.

“The defendant was fond of the terror group and believed that Daesh applied the proper Sharia,” court documents said.

The young man followed Daesh’s social media platforms “and would often contact some of its members and expressed his admiration”, according to court documents.

The defendant decided to spread the group’s ideology to his family and friends using Facebook and Telegramme applications until his arrest in March 2021, court papers said.

“The defendant aimed to convince his followers to follow Daesh’s social media platforms and highlighted their terrorist activities,” the court papers stated.

The SSC general prosecutor asked the higher court to uphold the sentence, stating the SSC had followed the proper procedures when sentencing the defendant.

The defendant contested the SSC ruling through his lawyer, claiming that “he was subjected to duress to confess to something that he did not do”.

The lawyer also argued that “the SCC prosecutor did not submit any evidence that he used social media to spread Daesh ideology”.

The lawyer also charged that the SSC prosecutor “failed to present any other solid evidence that would implicate his client with the charges”.

The lawyer further argued that the sentence was “harsh” and that his client “should benefit from a reduction in penalty, because he is young and does not have a criminal record”.

However, the higher court ruled that the SSC had followed the proper procedures and the defendant deserved the verdict he had received.

“It was clear that the defendant’s actions were meant to support and spread the terror group’s activities, which are against the country’s rules and are legally forbidden,” the Court of Cassation said.

In addition, the higher court stated that the investigation procedures with the defendant from the time he was arrested were conducted in accordance with the law.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mahmoud Ebtoush, Majid Azab, Hayel Amr, Ibrahim Abu Shamma and Mohammad Shreiri.