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Jordanian court sentences pair in alleged coup plot against the king

Officers stand guard outside Jordan’s state security court on Monday. (Khalil Mazraawi/AFP/Getty Images)

The court did not address the role of the king’s half brother, Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, who was originally accused of being behind an attempted coup.

The court found Bassem Awadallah, a former top aide to the king and a Jordanian citizen who also holds Saudi and U.S. citizenship, and Sharif Hasan, a little-known Jordanian official and member of the royal family, guilty of sedition and incitement for their involvement in the “discord scheme.”

“The two accused hold anti-state ideas and together sought to cause chaos and strife within the state and society,” said a statement from the court, carried by Jordan’s state news agency.

In addition to the 15-year prison term, Hasan was also sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $1,410 for drug possession and use.

Both men had pleaded not guilty to the sedition and incitement charges.

What to know about Jordan, the U.S. ally that faced an alleged coup attempt

A U.S.-based former federal prosecutor, Michael Sullivan, represented Awadallah. He has accused the Jordanian state of torturing his client, including the use of electric shocks, to force a confession.

Jordanian officials have denied allegations of mistreatment.

Sullivan said the trial before Jordan’s state security court “has been completely unfair,” meeting behind closed doors on just six occasions.

The high-profile verdict comes just days before Abdullah’s July 17 visit to the White House. Abdullah will be the first Middle East leader to be hosted by President Biden.

The White House said in a statement that the visit would be “an opportunity to discuss the many challenges facing the Middle East and showcase Jordan’s leadership role in promoting peace and stability in the region.”

A critical U.S. ally in counterterrorism operations, the resource-poor monarchy has long been considered a bastion of stability in the region. But in recent years, as reports of high-level corruption have continued to come out and coronavirus restrictions have tightened — exacerbating economic woes already made dire by the influx of Syrian refugees — anti-government demonstrations have grown in Amman and other major cities.

The sedition trial began after Awadallah and Hasan were arrested in April on charges of conspiring to replace Abdullah with Hamzah, his younger and more charismatic half brother, who had been crown prince for four years before the title was transferred to Abdullah’s eldest son, Hussein, in 2004.

Abdullah and Hamzah are both sons of Jordan’s late King Hussein, though they have different mothers.

The reported coup attempt led to sweeping arrests targeting nearly 20 high-ranking Jordanian officials, including those who were accused of having engaged with the Jordanian opposition in exile and with other, unnamed international ­actors.

The king later said Hamzah’s case, and the rare royal feud, was handled within the confines of the palace. Hamzah, who has made infrequent public appearances since the allegations earlier this year, has professed his fealty to the king after being placed under house arrest for days.

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