Jordan ex-chief pleads not guilty to destablizing monarchy

AMMAN (Reuters) – A former Jordanian royal court chief and a low-ranking member of the royal family pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of agitating to destabilize the monarchy, one of their lawyers said.

Prosecutors had referred to a military court the case of Bassem Awadallah, an ex-royal court chief and finance minister who played a big role in the drive to liberalize Jordan’s economy, and Sharif Hassan Zaid, a distant relative of King Abdullah.

During the first session of the trial on Monday, both pleaded not guilty, according to Mohamed Afif, Awadallah’s lawyer.

The pair were arrested in early April when former heir to the throne, Prince Hamzah, was placed under house arrest over allegations that he had liaised with foreign parties over a plot to destabilize Jordan, a close US ally in the Middle East.

Proceedings against Prince Hamzah, who along with Awadallah had been under investigation for some time, were later dropped after he pledged allegiance to King Abdullah.

Monday’s trial was closed to the media.

Awadallah is among the closest economic advisers to Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a matter that complicated the judicial investigations, according to officials familiar with the affair.

Amman turned down Riyadh’s request to hand him over, they added, without elaborating.