Jordan's Court of Cassation on Monday (February 6th) upheld a December State Security Court (SSC) ruling sentencing five defendants in the “Irbid terror cell” case to death, the Jordan Times reported.
The Cassation Court also had upheld SSC’s sentences in the same case on December 28th , which saw 16 other suspects imprisoned for between three to 15 years, a senior judicial source said.
The defendants, known collectively as the “Irbid terror cell”, were found guilty by the SSC of committing terrorist acts which led to deaths, committing terrorist acts using automatic weapons and manufacturing explosives with the intention of perpetrating terrorist acts.
They also were found guilty of possessing weapons and ammunition to commit acts of terrorism, plotting to carry out terrorist acts and promoting terrorist ideologies.
The 80-page Cassation Court verdict said one of the defendants, who had been arrested repeatedly in 2000 for his extremist beliefs, decided to support the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) in 2013 and started propagating the group's extremist ideology.
In 2015, the defendant moved from preaching to actual training, after convincing over 20 people to join him at a rented farm in South Shouneh, according to the court verdict.
“The defendant, who fought with al-Nusra Front (ANF) fighters in Syria (and later shifted alliance), trained the defendants on how to use weapons and manufacture explosives at the farm and informed them that they were training to join ISIL and fight in Syria,” the court said.
Some moved to a rented house in Irbid where explosives were being manufactured and planned to target intelligence, security and military personnel, as well as state institutions, the court said.
Once a death sentence is upheld by the Court of Cassation, the case is sent to the cabinet for endorsement and a royal decree is then issued to approve the execution.
