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AMMAN, Jordan (AP) – A US citizen and former aide to King Abdullah II of Jordan has claimed to have been tortured in custody in Jordan and feared for his life, his US-based lawyer said on Sunday, on the eve of a verdict in senior management. profile trial for sedition linked to a rare public rupture in the reigning family of the kingdom.
Along with the allegations of ill-treatment, the closed-door trial in Jordan’s state security court “was completely unfair,” Michael Sullivan, a former federal prosecutor hired by the American family of the accused Bassem Awadallah.
The abuse allegations, denied Sunday by Jordanian officials, were raised just days before the King of Jordan became the first Arab leader to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House on July 19. Jordan is a key ally of the West in an unstable Middle East.
Awadallah and his co-accused Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a distant cousin of the king, have pleaded not guilty to the charges of sedition and incitement to violence, which carry long prison terms.
The defendants have been accused of conspiring with a senior royal official – Prince Hamzah, a half-brother to the king – to stir up unrest against the monarch while seeking foreign aid. The indictment depicts Hamzah as a disgruntled royal who never forgave Abdullah for withdrawing his title as crown prince in 2004. Hamzah, who was placed under house arrest in April and was only seen in public only once since then has denied inciting the king, saying he was being punished for exposing high-level corruption.
Despite the gravity of the charges against Awadallah and bin Zaid, the trial ended after just six sessions. The court rejected requests by Jordanian defense lawyers to call witnesses and prosecutors only shared the alleged transcripts, but not the audio, of the surveillance of the alleged conspirators.
The state security court prosecutor’s office denied that the trial was unfair. Awadallah was “guaranteed due process” under Jordanian law, the prosecutor said in a statement to the PA. “He was not mistreated in any way and his allegations of torture of any kind are false.”
The US State Department has said that US consular officials have visited Awadallah five times and that “we also take seriously any allegations of abuse and lack of minimum guarantees of a fair trial.”
Sullivan, a former US attorney for Massachusetts and former acting director of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said based on how the trial went, a verdict of guilt seemed to go without saying. He said any conviction would be appealed.
The U.S. legal team, which has remained on the sidelines so far, will play a more open role in the appeal phase, Sullivan said. He said the goal was to publicize Awadallah’s case in the United States and abroad. This includes “the serious concerns about his safety and security in the short term and the total unfairness in terms of the process, as well as, of course, torture and the violation of a number of international conventions, treaties and laws”, he said. Sullivan said.
The prosecutor’s office said Awadallah did not raise allegations of torture during court hearings, his 17 meetings with his Jordanian lawyer or the first four meetings with US consular officials in Jordan. “He only made these statements during his last meeting with the consul, as the delivery of the decision (verdict) approached,” the statement said.
Sullivan said Awadallah told his visitor that he had been beaten, subjected to electric shocks and threatened with future ill-treatment “if he didn’t confess”.
The prosecutor’s office said Awadallah made a voluntary statement about the case, denying that she was forcibly extorted.
Awadallah’s family said late last week he feared for his life. “Bassem rightly fears that he will be killed in prison after the conviction, especially because he has held several high-level and sensitive positions in the Jordanian government,” the family said.
Awadallah, who also holds Jordanian and Saudi nationalities, was head of the royal court and minister of government in Jordan. He has extensive business interests in the Gulf and has advised Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on attracting foreign investment.
The Awadallah family urged the Biden administration to demand the release of Awadallah.
Laub reported from Berlin, Germany.
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