Man handed death penalty for murder of Anti-Narcotics Department officer during raid
AMMAN — The Court of Cassation upheld a September 2022 State Security Court (SSC) ruling sentencing a man to death and two others to prison terms ranging from seven to 15 years for the murder of an Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) agent during a raid in Irbid in November 2018.
The court declared Ihab M. guilty of murdering Lt. Ahmad Rawahneh on November 16 and injuring another officer.
The defendant was handed the death penalty by the SSC.
The two other defendants received seven and 15 years in prison for complicity in murder, resisting police officers and illicit drug possession.
The SSC also ordered one of the three defendants to pay JD5,000 in fines for charges of smuggling and possessing illicit drugs.
Court documents said that AND agents learned that the defendants were in possession of illegal narcotics and placed the three men under surveillance.
On the day of the incident, four AND agents driving two vehicles, including Rawahneh, followed the defendants’ vehicle and intercepted their path, according to the court.
“The four law-enforcement agency officers descended from their vehicle wearing badges that identified themselves as AND agents and ran towards the defendants’ vehicle,” the court papers said.
When the four AND officers were near the vehicle, “they identified themselves and asked the defendants to exit the vehicle”, according to the court papers.
“The main defendant in the case, Ihab M., drew a gun and fired several rounds at the four police officers who were shouting back saying they were AND agents,” the court maintained.
Rawahneh stepped back and began running away from their vehicles but was struck by one bullet in the head, the court added.
The three police officers fired back at the vehicle, striking one of the defendants, according to the court papers.
One of the AND officers was injured in the arm during the fire exchange and was rushed to a nearby hospital, the court maintained.
The defendants were able to escape following the shooting incident, and decided to head to a nearby police station to claim that they were attacked by an unknown individual “to mislead the authorities”, the court added.
However, the officers at the police station decided to detain them temporarily to investigate their claims, the court said.
“The police station was aware soon afterward that there was an attack on AND officers and that one of the suspects was injured and realised that the wanted men were in their custody,” the court stated.
The defendants’ lawyers contested the court verdict, arguing that their clients were denied fair trial because “the court rejected our request to present our entire evidence in the case”.
The lawyers also argued that the SSC failed to provide solid evidence to implicate their clients.
The lawyer representing the defendant who was sentenced to death also argued that “his client fired at law-enforcement agencies to protect himself since AND agents were the ones to start shooting at my client and fired dozens of rounds towards him”.
Meanwhile, the SCC prosecutor asked the higher court to uphold the sentences passed against the three defendants.
The Court of Cassation’s bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Ibrahim Abu Shammah, Nayef Samarat, Qassem Dughmi and Mohammad Khashashneh.
