Five men standing trial at the State Security Court on charges of plotting subversive acts against Americans, Israelis and Iraqi police training centres in Jordan pleaded not guilty to the charges on Wednesday. The defendants, part of a group of eight men including three who are being tried in absentia, were also charged with plotting activity aimed at undermining Jordan's relations with another country and belonging to an illegal organisation. The prosecution identified the five men in custody as Ahmad T., 37, Hassan A., 41, Abdul Hakim M., 29, Sami M., 33, and Sakher M. The remaining three defendants were identified as Haitham H., Ahmad Y., and Nasri A. When asked by the tribunal whether they were guilty or not, some of them answered “Jihad... is not a crime.” The defendants then entered a not guilty plea. At the end of the session, the state prosecutor asked the court for more time to summon his witnesses. The tribunal agreed and adjourned the session until April 19.
The defendants decided to launch attacks against Americans, Israelis and Iraqi police training centres in the Kingdom following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the charge sheet said. The men decided to form 10 cells for this purpose and called themselves the “Mansourah sect,” according to the prosecution. “Some of the suspects used the Internet to lecture on jihad and the need to fight Israelis and Christians in any part of the world,” the charge sheet said.
They distributed CDs in the Kingdom, which contained material on military operations against American forces in Iraq and speeches by Jordanian fugitive Abu Mussab Zarqawi, it added. The suspects also distributed a magazine published by Al Qaeda network in Iraq in mosques in eastern Amman, according to court documents. The prosecution also charged that some of the suspects recruited several people and sent them to fight in Iraq, which “harmed the relationship between the Iraqi and Jordanian governments.” The authorities arrested five of the eight defendants in August 2005 before they carried out any of their alleged plans.