JORDAN: BROTHERS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN TAFILEH MURDER

April 24, 2012: The Criminal Court in Jordan sentenced two brothers to death for murdering an educator in Tafileh in January 2011.
The court declared the defendants guilty of stabbing Hamad Hamran, the director of the examination department at the Tafileh Education Directorate, to death in front of the directorate on January 13, 2011, and handed them the maximum punishment.
The court also ordered the two brothers to pay JD51,080 in compensation to the victim’s family.
Seven other defendants standing trial for complicity in the murder were acquitted by the court for lack of evidence.
The court said the main defendant in the case, an educational counsellor, had asked the victim to appoint him as a monitor for the Tawjihi (General Secondary Education Certificate) winter session examination, but his request had been turned down.
“It seems the defendant was not content with victim’s decision and his policies regarding the distribution of monitors in examination halls, since the victim did not assign him to a hall, so he and his brothers attacked him with an axe,” the court verdict said.
“The victim responded by shooting one of the defendant’s brothers in the head, killing him instantly,” the court added.
The educational counsellor responded by striking him over 30 times with an axe and a knife “until he made sure he was dead”, the court added.
Tuesday’s verdict will automatically be reviewed by the Cassation Court within the next 30 days. (Sources: Jordan Times, 24/04/2012)