Jordan.. The State Security Prosecution charges 7 terrorism-related charges against those accused in the Karak Church attack

On Tuesday, the Attorney General of the Jordanian State Security Court, Brigadier General Military Judge Ahmed Talaat Shahaltogh, filed seven terrorism-related charges against the defendants in the case of the attack that targeted the Church of St. George in the village of Hamoud in the Karak Governorate in the south of the country, the first of which was the charge of carrying out terrorist acts that led to the death of a person by participating. According to an official statement issued by the Jordanian Armed Forces, a copy of which was received by Ofek News in Arabic, Shahaltoug announced that the Public Prosecution had completed all investigative procedures related to the attack, explaining that the investigations included listening to the statements of the Public Prosecution’s witnesses, collecting evidence and evidence related to the crime scene, organizing the seizures of the weapons and ammunition used to carry out the attack, in addition to interrogating those accused of carrying it out and those who contributed to its commission.

The Public Prosecutor of the State Security Court decided, according to the official statement, to refer the case to the competent court to proceed with trial procedures in accordance with legal principles. By the end of Tuesday, 11 days have passed since the armed attack that targeted the church was carried out, killing nine people on October 23.

The Jordanian authorities had announced the arrest of Hazza Zidan Muhammad, whom they described as the planner and mastermind of the operation, his brother Mishal Zidan Muhammad, and their brother-in-law Ahmed Sami Hussein, all of them from the village of Al-Jadida, adjacent to the village of Hamoud in Karak Governorate. Meanwhile, according to the statement, the charges included, in addition to the charge of jointly carrying out terrorist acts that led to the death of a person, “committing terrorist acts using weapons and ammunition jointly.”

The charges also included possession of weapons with the intention of using them to carry out terrorist acts in association, possession of ammunition with the intention of using them to carry out terrorist acts in association, in addition to the charge of conspiracy with the intention of carrying out terrorist acts using weapons. The charges also included "two charges of promoting the ideas of a terrorist group, and carrying out actions that would disrupt public order and endanger the safety and security of society."

For his part, lawyer Dr. Sakhr Al-Khasawneh said, in a comment to the Ofoq News website in Arabic, that a number of the charges contained in the indictment that the Public Prosecutor referred to the State Security Court are punishable by death by hanging. Al-Khasawneh pointed out that the Jordanian State Security Court is the court competent to hear this type of case, pointing out that the pronouncement of the ruling is public, while the decision to hold trial sessions in public or secret rests with the court.