Jordan Sentences Three Men to Death Over Greek Orthodox Church Attack
A Jordanian military court sentenced three men to death on Sunday after convicting them over a shooting last month at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak that killed nine people and wounded about three dozen. The Jordanian Armed Forces said the men were found guilty of deadly terrorist acts, possessing weapons and ammunition with the intent to commit terrorism, and promoting the ideas of a terrorist group. That group was not named in the military statement. The sentences may be appealed.
The men were arrested in late October after a shootout with security forces during a predawn raid on a hide-out in an abandoned house in southern Karak, where the church attack took place. King Abdullah II had vowed “the harshest retaliation” after one of the deadliest militant attacks in Jordan in years, and later praised the arrests, writing that no proponent of “dark ideologies that divide Jordanians” would be tolerated. Officials have not stated a motive; Prime Minister Jafar Hassan said shortly after the shooting that it was “the result of terrorist takfiri ideology.” Weeks before the sentencing, Jordan carried out deadly airstrikes on Islamic State targets in southern Syria; a government spokesman said the military was targeting terrorist hide-outs without naming a group. The Syrian civil defense said at least seven civilians, including three children, were killed, and Syrian officials condemned the strikes.
Muslims make up more than 97 percent of Jordan’s population and Christians about 2 percent, according to United States government estimates. The constitution declares Islam the state religion while protecting free exercise of religion and barring religious discrimination; Christians are guaranteed parliamentary seats and have long served as ministers and ambassadors. Karak has had a Christian presence for more than 1,500 years. In June, Jordan hanged six men convicted of terrorism-related or drug-trafficking charges after a nine-year pause in executions, a move condemned by the European Union and groups including Human Rights Watch.
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