Twelve Jordanians on Tuesday were sentenced to prison terms of up to 15 years for their involvement in recruiting members for the Hamas movement, AFP reported.
Of 16 defendants, “four were acquitted and 12 convicted of terrorist offenses,” a judicial source told AFP.
“Four were sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison, while three detainees got five years,” the source said. One was sentenced to three years and four to one year.
All defendants were found guilty of manufacturing explosives, disturbing the peace, and “recruiting people on behalf of armed groups.”
Relations between Hamas and Jordan have been strained since 1999 when the kingdom expelled the movement’s chief Khaled Meshaal.
Two years previously, Meshaal had survived an assassination attempt by the Israeli Mossad secret service, AFP reported.
