Verdict in alleged Jordan coup plot set for next week

AMMAN, Jordan — A Jordanian court is expected to issue a verdict Monday in a trial over an alleged plot to overthrow the country’s king in favor of his half-brother Prince Hamza, a defense lawyer said.

Former royal court chief Bassem Awadallah and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, once a special envoy to Riyadh, have pleaded not guilty to “incitement against the ruling system” and “acts that could threaten society and create sedition.”

“The State Security Court set Monday’s hearing for the reading of the verdict,” bin Zaid’s lawyer Alaa al-Khasawneh told AFP on Tuesday.

He spoke after a hearing in which a 23-page dossier was presented summarizing the case for the defense.

He said the defense team had asked the court to “find both our clients innocent of the charges against them.”

King Abdullah appointed Hamza as crown prince in 1999, at the request of his late father, but removed him from the post in 2004, later appointing his son, Prince Hussein, as next in line to the throne.

Authorities have said the former crown prince would not stand trial, as his case had been resolved within the royal family.

The court had last week rejected a defense request to summon three princes, along with Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, as witnesses, calling it “unproductive.”

The charges against Awadallah and bin Zaid were made public on June 13 and they face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on all charges.