Jordanian ex-royal court chief sentenced to 15 years for alleged plot

KHALIL MAZRAAWI / AFP

A Jordanian court on Monday sentenced a former royal confidant, Bassem Awadallah, and a minor royal to 15 years in jail on charges of attempting to destabilise the monarchy.

The court said it had confirmed evidence backing the charges against the pair and that they had both been determined to harm the monarchy by pushing former heir to the throne Prince Hamza as an alternative to the king.

Awadallah, a former finance minister who was a driving force behind Jordan's liberal economic reforms, was charged with agitating to undermine the political system and committing acts that threaten public security and sowing sedition.

He pleaded not guilty and has said he had nothing to do with the case.

The estranged Prince Hamza avoided punishment last April after pledging allegiance to the king, defusing a crisis that had led to his house arrest.

The verdict follows three weeks after the first session of the trial was held.

The court had rejected a defence request to bring more than two dozen witnesses to testify, including Hamza.

More from International News

  • UN warns funding cuts threaten vital aid

    The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have sounded the alarm over severe funding shortfalls that are hindering life-saving humanitarian aid in countries including Nigeria, Burundi, and Colombia.

  • Multiple dead in Vancouver after vehicle plows into street festival

    A number of people were killed and multiple others were injured in Vancouver after a vehicle drove into a crowd at a Filipino street festival in the western Canadian city, police said on Saturday.

  • Rome and the world bid farewell to Pope Francis

    Presidents, royalty and simple mourners bade farewell to Pope Francis on Saturday at a solemn funeral ceremony, where a cardinal appealed for the pontiff's legacy of caring for migrants, the downtrodden and the environment to be kept alive.

  • Trump, Zelenskyy meet in Vatican basilica to seek Ukraine peace

    US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis, met one-on-one in a marble-lined Vatican basilica on Saturday to try to revive faltering efforts to end Russia's war with Ukraine.

Coming Up