Jordanian former MP sentenced to 12 years in prison for 'threatening king'

Jordan’s State Security Court on Wednesday sentenced a former MP to 12 years in prison with hard labour for threatening the country's king and stoking dissent.

Demonstrations broke out in Amman following news of Osama Al-Ajarmeh's sentencing, with some protesters throwing rocks at posters of the Jordanian monarch and burning tires.

Parliament suspended Osama Al-Ajarmeh in late May, after he told the legislature that power outages affecting Jordan at the time were manufactured "in order to prevent solidarity marches with Palestine in light of the recent Israeli aggression". 

Protests had been planned by tribes demanding the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, following deadly air strikes on Gaza that month.

Protesters throw rocks at @KingAbdullahII picture in Marka in amman after sentencing MP Osama Ajarmah to 12 years for criticising the king.He led a massive protest against Israeli war on Gaza last may before he was arrested and charged. #اسامة_العجارمة pic.twitter.com/FwvO1QVvaP

— Ali Younes (@Ali_reports) January 26, 2022

After his suspension from parliament, his supporters clashed with police in the suburb of Naour in southwest Amman, where the al-Ajarmeh tribe is prominent.

Al-Ajarmeh was also accused of “inciting riots”, and was seen in a video insulting Jordan’s monarch while carrying a sword and a gun in a shoulder holster, according to Arab News.

He was subsequently filmed suggesting he form a "radical Jordanian right-wing" to "purify Amman of the liberal elite".

Parliament voted on 6 June to expel him, and he was arrested ten days later.

At the time of the expulsion, parliament Speaker Abdulmunim Oddat condemned what he called Al-Ajarmeh’s “devious, slanderous” allegations against the king.