senior Muslim Brotherhood official goes on trial in Jordan

Rasa - A senior Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood official has gone on trial at a military tribunal in Jordan’s capital, Amman, for criticizing the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

News ID: 1852

Date: 20 December 2014 - 19:37

RNA - Zaki Bani Irsheid, the Jordanian Brotherhood’s deputy secretary general, went on trial at Amman’s state security court after criticizing the UAE for putting the group on the list of “terrorist organizations," PressTV reported.

Irsheid and the legal team supporting him have rejected the trial, saying that his case should be handled by a civilian court, not the state security court.

“I reject this trial and my presence here before the state security court. This court does not have the jurisdiction to look into my case,” he said on Thursday.

After the group was blacklisted by the UAE, Irsheid described the Persian Gulf state as “the prime godfather of terrorism,” serving the interests of the United States and Israel in the Middle East.

The Jordanian Brotherhood’s spokesman, Murad Adaileh, said Irsheid was arrested on November 20 over an op-ed piece he had written, deemed to be critical of the UAE. Irsheid was taken by security forces after a meeting at the group’s headquarters in Amman’s Abdali neighborhood.

He has been accused of “acts that could harm Jordan’s relation with a brotherly state.”

Irsheid is also a leader of the Brotherhood’s political arm, the Islamic Action Front.

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