Defendants in ‘Irbid terror cell’ plead not guilty

AMMAN — Twenty-one defendants standing trial at the State Security Court (SSC) on terror-related charges on Wednesday pleaded not guilty during their opening trial, a senior judicial source said.

“Some of the suspects did not have lawyers and the court appointed two to represent five defendants, whose charges could land them the death penalty,” the source told The Jordan Times.

The source stressed that the gag order on this case remains and that “all the press should abide by what is published only by the Jordan News Agency, Petra”. 

Petra reported on Wednesday that the court adjourned the session until the end of the week.

The suspects, dubbed in the press as the “Irbid terror cell”, were charged with carrying out terrorist acts that led to the death of an individual, complicity in committing terrorist acts using weapons that led to the death of an individual, manufacturing and possessing explosive substances with illicit intent and spreading terrorist ideologies, Petra reported.
Some of the suspects were arrested in February, and their arrests led to a raid on a building in Irbid on March 2, which left one special anti-terror unit officer and seven suspects dead. 

After the raid, the General Intelligence Department (GID) said the seven suspects who were killed in the raid had opened fire at security officers with machineguns and were wearing explosive belts.

The raid, which also resulted in the injury of five officers and two civilians, ended with the apprehension of 13 additional suspects.
Shortly after their arrest, the GID said the suspects were Daesh affiliates who were planning to carry out attacks on military and civilian sites in the Kingdom.

In May, Jordan Media Commission Director General Amjad Qadi circulated a gag order to all media outlets, banning all forms of publication regarding the March raid on the alleged terrorist cell in Irbid.