In Jordan sedition trial, US defendant alleges torture

Nation’s king is set to meet with President Biden next week

AMMAN, Jordan — A U.S. citizen and former top aide to Jordan’s King Abdullah II alleged he was tortured in Jordanian detention and fears for his life, his U.S.-based lawyer said Sunday, on the eve of a verdict in the high-profile sedition trial linked to a rare public rift in the kingdom’s ruling family.

Along with the mistreatment allegations, the closeddoor trial before Jordan’s state security court “has been completely unfair,” Michael Sullivan, a former federal prosecutor hired by defendant Bassem Awadallah’s U.S.-based family, told The Associated Press.

The allegations of mistreatment, denied by Jordanian officials Sunday, were raised just days before Jordan’s king is to become the first Arab leader to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House on July 19. Jordan is a key Western ally in an unstable Middle East.

Awadallah and co-defendant Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a distant cousin of the king, have pleaded not guilty to sedition and incitement charges, which carry lengthy prison terms.

The defendants were accused of conspiring with a senior royal — Prince Hamzah, a half-brother of the king — to foment unrest against the monarch while soliciting foreign help. The indictment portrayed Hamzah as a disgruntled royal who never forgave Abdullah for taking away his title of crown prince in 2004. Hamzah, who was placed under house arrest in April and has been seen in public just once since then, denied he incited against the king, saying he was being punished for calling out high-level corruption.

Despite the serious nature of the charges against Awadallah and bin Zaid, the trial ended after just six sessions.