A Jordanian court on Wednesday sentenced nine individuals to prison terms ranging from three to 15 years in a case linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, the official Petra news agency reported.
The sentences follow an earlier ruling in which four people were handed 20-year jail terms for “possession of explosives, weapons, and ammunition.” The Jordanian intelligence service had announced in April that it arrested 16 suspects and foiled plots “aimed at targeting national security, sowing chaos, and sabotaging within Jordan.”
Jordan has since banned the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Islamist movement, accusing it of stockpiling weapons and attempting to destabilize the kingdom.
According to Petra, two of the latest convicts received 15 years of hard labor, while a third was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years for producing missiles. Four others received three years and four months of hard labor for actions deemed likely to disturb public order and threaten national security. Two additional individuals were sentenced to three years and four months of imprisonment for similar offenses.
The report did not clarify whether the nine sentenced individuals were members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1945 and grew to become the country’s largest Islamist movement. In 2020, Jordan’s top court dissolved the group, ruling that its license had not been renewed under a 2014 law a decision rejected by the Brotherhood. Despite this, the organization continued its operations until the April ban.
The Brotherhood’s political wing, the Islamic Action Front, remains Jordan’s main opposition party and the largest in parliament, having secured 31 out of 138 seats in the 2024 elections.
Jordanian authorities have increasingly expressed concern about the Brotherhood’s influence, framing recent arrests and legal actions as essential to maintaining national security and public order. The latest convictions mark a significant escalation in the government’s crackdown on Islamist groups, signaling a firm stance against any perceived threats to the kingdom’s stability.
