Jordan ex-officials handed 15-year jail terms over ‘coup plot’

AMMAN: A Jordanian court on Monday sentenced two former officials to 15 years in jail over a palace coup attempt that sparked a crisis in a kingdom seen as a regional oasis of stability.

Former royal court chief Bassem Awadallah and an ex-envoy to Saudi Arabia, Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, had been convicted of conspiring to topple King Abdullah II in favour of his half-brother Prince Hamzah. The former crown prince himself was not on trial.

But the 13-page charge sheet said Hamzah, 41, “was determined to fulfil his personal ambition to rule, in violation of the Hashemite constitution and customs”. Awadallah and Bin Zaid, who both have close ties to neighbouring Saudi Arabia, were found guilty of “incitement against the ruling system” and “acts that could threaten society and create sedition”, said the sentence read out in court.

Awadallah, who holds Saudi nationality, and his co-defendant had been on trial since June 21 and had faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

Images released by authorities showed the two men, in light blue prison uniforms, being escorted into the court on Monday by security personnel in black uniforms.

Journalists at a makeshift media centre outside the State Security Court, a military tribunal that also includes civilian judges, were later shown short videos of the ruling being issued.

The men’s lawyers said they would appeal. Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia has fervently denied any involvement in the alleged plot. The unprecedented palace crisis erupted in April. Eighteen suspects were arrested after authorities announced they had foiled a bid to destabilise the pro-Western kingdom, but 16 were later released.

A former crown prince who was sidelined as heir to the throne by the king in 2004, Hamzah accused Jordan’s rulers of corruption and ineptitude in a video message posted by the BBC on April 3.

He said the same day that he had been put under house arrest. Authorities later said he would not stand trial, as his case had been resolved within the royal family, with Hamzah pledging allegiance to Abdullah.

The king appointed Hamzah as crown prince in 1999, at the request of his late father, but removed him from the post in 2004, later naming his son, Prince Hussein, as next in line to the throne.

The court had rejected a defence request to summon three princes along with Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi as witnesses, calling it “unproductive”. The trial was held behind closed doors in the capital Amman.