AMMAN - The State Security Court (SSC) on Wednesday acquitted a 19-year-old man of fuelling national discord for lack of evidence.
Hassan Abu Shawer, a supporter of the Islamic Action Front, was arrested shortly after a December 14, 2007 demonstration for allegedly stepping on the Jordanian flag.
The SSC also decided to refer Abu Shawer to the Amman Court of First Instance to be tried on a second charge of dishonouring the national flag.
"The court decided that this charge does not fall within its jurisdiction and therefore the defendant will be referred to the relevant court," the SSC said in its ruling.
Abu Shawer will remain in detention until the Court of First Instance receives the file and starts questioning him, a senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.
The prosecution charged that the defendant's action during the march aimed at ruining the excellent relationship between Jordanians and Palestinians, and by "stepping on the flag he dishonoured Jordan's national symbol".
Also yesterday, the SSC set May 21 as the date to issue its verdict against nine men whose death sentences were overturned in May 2007.
The men, including the late Abu Mussab Zarqawi and Azmi Jaiousi, the alleged leader of the group, were convicted in February last year of "manufacturing and possessing explosives with illicit intent".
Defendants Hussein Mustafa, Ahmad Samir, Hassan Samik and Syrian Anas Amin also received the death penalty.
Four other defendants including Zarqawi, who was killed in Iraq by US forces last year, were also sentenced to death in absentia on the same charges.
In May 2007, the Cassation Court overturned their verdict on the grounds that the SSC prosecutor had violated interrogation procedures.
On Wednesday, the SSC decided against the Cassation Court's recommendations and adjourned the session until May 21 to issue a verdict in the case.
The prosecution charged that Zarqawi instructed Jaiousi and the other group members to attack the General Intelligence Department (GID), the Prime Ministry and the US embassy in Amman.
In July 2005, Jaiousi and three other defendants, who belonged to Kataeb Al Tawhid (Brigades of Monotheism), admitted they planned to target the government and the GID in 2004 with vehicles laden with explosives.
Jaiousi appeared on Jordan Television shortly after his arrest in April 2004 and described how he and other group members bought and manufactured chemical explosives under the guidance and support of Zarqawi.
By Rana Husseini
© Jordan Times 2008
