Jordan’s State Security Court sentenced three men to death by hanging for the deadly armed attack on the Orthodox Church of Saint George in Karak Governorate. Nine people were killed and another 25 were injured in the attack.
The Jordanian Armed Forces said the court had issued the sentence for “terrorist acts resulting in deaths.” The three men were also found guilty of possessing weapons and ammunition with the intent to carry out an attack, as well as of terrorist conspiracy and promoting the ideas of a terrorist group.
“The State Security Tribunal issued a ruling sentencing the three criminals who carried out the terrorist attack to death,” the armed forces said in a statement.The sentence is not final. It may be appealed before the Court of Cassation.
The attack took place in October in the village of Hamoud, in the southern governorate of Karak. According to police, armed men stormed the church grounds and opened fire on participants in a funeral procession.
Following the attack, the three suspects were arrested in an abandoned house in the governorate, where they had barricaded themselves. The case was heard by the State Security Court, which in Jordan handles cases related to terrorism.
King Abdullah II visited the wounded at a hospital in Karak and condemned the attack as a terrorist act. He said those responsible would face the “strictest” penalties.
Karak Governorate has a population of around 375,000 and is one of the areas of Jordan with a significant Christian community. Christians account for approximately 3 percent of the kingdom’s nearly 11 million people, who are predominantly Sunni Muslims.