Jordanian lawyers charge torture accused

Jordanian prosecutors brought attempted murder charges over the torture of a teenage boy that left him without hands and one eye.

The accused were arrested on Friday after the attack on the 16-year-old, identified as Saleh, in Zarqa city, about 30 kilometres north-east of the capital, Amman.

The attackers chopped off Saleh’s hands with an axe and gouged out one of his eyes.

They were charged with “attempted joint-enterprise murder, kidnapping and causing permanent disability among other crimes”, Jordan’s state news agency Petra reported.

The agency did not reveal how many people were charged. The criminal court prosecutor ordered them to be held for 15 days while investigations continue.

Saleh was abducted and tortured in what is thought to have been retaliation for the murder of a relative of the lead suspect earlier this year. Saleh’s father is currently serving a prison sentence for the murder.

There was an outpouring of shock and anger in Jordan and abroad in response to the attack, followed by calls for tough action against the culprits. Many called for the death penalty.

Following the attack, King Abdullah II ordered that the boy be given all necessary medical treatment. Queen Rania backed calls for stringent punishment for what she called an “unspeakable atrocity”.

“I stand with the voices that call for the fullest punishment of the perpetrators,” she said on Facebook.

The director general of the Jordanian Royal Medical Services, Brig Gen Adel Al Whadaneh, said a team of orthopaedic, ophthalmic and plastic surgery consultants was treating Saleh at King Hussein Medical City in Amman. He is also receiving psychological counselling.

The long-term plan is to provide the teenager with prosthetic limbs. The vision in his remaining eye could improve with time.

The head of Jordan’s Public Security Directorate yesterday issued a warning against “outlaws” and vowed to “strike with an iron fist against anyone who threatens the security” of the country.

“We believe in our ability to guarantee the most deterrent penalties against them,” Maj Gen Hussein Al Hawatmeh said.

The representative for the directorate said its Anti-Cybercrime Unit had identified fraudulent fund-raising pages claiming to collect donations on behalf of Saleh and his family.

Maj Gen Al Hawatmeh said action was being taken against the perpetrators and cautioned the public against falling victim to such scams.