Jordan's State Security Court (SSC) on Wednesday (July 19th) began the trial of two men accused of affiliation with the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS), who allegedly planned attacks against tourists, soldiers and churches in Jordan, the Jordan Times reported.
The General Intelligence Department arrested the suspects and foiled the terrorist attempt in April.
During the public hearing, the defendants entered a not-guilty plea to the charges of conspiring to carry out terror attacks, attempting to join terrorist organisations and armed groups, and promoting terrorist ideologies, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
According to the charge sheet, the defendants had been following the news and publications of ISIS and sharing them on social media for a period of two years.
The defendants, one of whom is 21, had agreed to support ISIS, the prosecutors said.
They attempted to join the group in Syria but could not, as they were told that the road to Syria was not secure so they have to plan for attacks inside Jordan in support of ISIS, according to the charge sheet.
In the beginning of 2017, the defendants agreed to the group’s request to conduct attacks in Jordan and target tourists, Jordanian soldiers and churches.
The defendants chose a church in Amman as their target and attempted to buy weapons, which they could not find, said the indictment list.
