Jordan sentences nine in Muslim Brotherhood plot against state

A Jordanian military court on Wednesday sentenced nine defendants to between three and 15 years in jail over an alleged Muslim Brotherhood-linked plot to destabilize the country, a case that led authorities to outlaw the group.

The court said the defendants were among more than adozen Brotherhood members arrested last April, accused of receiving training and financing in Lebanon to carry out attacks inside Jordan using rockets and drones.

Authorities said the Muslim Brotherhood members had planned attacks on security targets and sensitive locations in Jordan, but did not identify the targets.

Two main defendants accused of illegally manufacturing weapons were sentenced to 15 years in prison, while another received seven years for complicity. Six others were handed three-year sentences on charges including acts that endangered public safety and recruitment for training, a court statement carried by state media said.

Four other defendants accused of assembling drones were acquitted.

All the defendants denied the charges.

Jordanian authorities said at least one rocket was ready to be launched as part of an operation that had been under surveillance by security forces since 2021.

The crackdown was followed a week later by a government decision to outlaw the Muslim Brotherhood, seize its assets and close its offices after authorities said some members were linked to a sabotage plot.

The Muslim Brotherhood has denied any link to the alleged plot but said some members may have been individually involved in smuggling arms to Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The group says it renounced violence decades ago and continues to pursue its vision through peaceful means.

The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last year, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.