A Jordanian court sentenced a former royal aide and a minor king to 15 years in prison for attempting to destabilize the monarchy.
Bassem Awadallah, a US citizen who once served as chief adviser to King Abdullah II, and a member of the royal family, Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, were found guilty of sedition and incitement on Monday.
The court said it had confirmed evidence supporting the charges against the couple and that they were determined to harm the monarchy by pushing former heir to the throne, Prince Hamzah, as an alternative to the king.
Bin Zaid was sentenced to another year in prison and 1,000 dinars ($ 1,400) for drug abuse, Petra News Agency reported.
Officials stand guard outside the Jordanian State Security Court as it announces its verdict in the trial of two officials accused of helping Prince Hamzah overthrow his half-brother, King Abdullah II, in Amman [Mohammad Ali/EPA]The charges have uncovered rifts within the ruling Hashemite family who have been a beacon of stability in an unstable region for the past few years.
Awadallah, a former finance minister who was a driving force behind liberal economic reforms in Jordan, has been charged with undermining the political system and guilty of acts that threaten public safety and cause turmoil.
The couple is also said to have sought foreign help.
They dismissed the charges and Alaa al-Khasawneh, a lawyer for Sharif, said they would appeal the verdict.
“Personal ambition”
Hamzah is a popular character in Jordan. He is considered religious and humble, close to the people and similar to his beloved father, the late King Hussein. He has criticized the government in the past, accusing officials of “failed management” after they passed an income tax law in 2018.
In one contradicting narrative, he is also seen as a disgruntled king who never forgave King Abdullah for taking away his title of Crown Prince and giving it to his eldest son in 2004.
His popularity stems from his connections with the tribes of Jordan, the foundation of Hashemite rule.
The estranged prince escaped punishment last April after pledging allegiance to the king and defusing a crisis that led to his house arrest.
In a series of video statements, he said he was being silenced for speaking out against corruption and poor governance by the ruling system.
While the former Crown Prince himself was not on trial, the 13-page indictment states that Hamzah, 41, “was determined to fulfill his personal ambition in violation of the Hashemite constitution and customs”.
Lt. Col. Muwafaq al-Masaeed, a military judge, pronounced the verdict following a closed trial that consisted of only six hearings.
Before the verdict was pronounced, Michael Sullivan, a former federal attorney hired by Awadallah’s US-based family, told the Associated Press that the trial was “totally unfair.”
Awadallah says he has been beaten, tortured and threatened with future ill-treatment “if he did not confess,” Sullivan said.
Foreign aid allegations
Fares Braizat, chairman of the political think tank Nama-Strategic Intelligence Solutions, said it was the “maximum penalty” for the allegations made.
“The case will depend on further consequences,” Braizat told Al Jazeera. “I’m not sure there will be any legal process before the State Security Court, but I think the charges you received would please public opinion very much.”
In the days leading up to the trial, the alleged conspirators sought foreign aid to exploit the king’s alleged vulnerability at a time when he was under pressure from the United States and Saudi Arabia to give the Trump administration a now-defunct Middle East plan accept.
Jordan has expressed concern that the plan would undermine the monarch’s historic role as custodian of important Muslim and Christian sites in occupied East Jerusalem and as a supporter of Hashemite legitimacy claims.
The overseas allegations have centered on Awadallah, a Jordanian, US and Saudi citizen who once served as the king’s official envoy to Riyadh. He has close ties to Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“I haven’t really seen a figure like that in the last 15, 20 years that the Jordanians liked so much,” Braizat said, referring to Awadallah. “I think this would question why such an individual would … do what he did.”