In connection with the alleged palace plot in Jordan in April, an Amman State Security tribunal sentenced former finance minister and head of the royal court, Bassem Awadallah, to 15 years in prison on Monday.

In addition to Awadallah, who also has American and Saudi citizenship, Sharif Hassan, a distant cousin of the king, was also sentenced to 15 years in prison.

They were found guilty of incitement and agitation, and Sharif Hassan was also convicted of drug possession, as the state news agency Petra reported.

Jochen Stahnke

Political correspondent for Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Jordan based in Tel Aviv.

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The proceedings took place in camera, closed to the public, in just six days. The defense announced an appeal. The Awadallahs family accused the security authorities of torture on Sunday. His lawyer spoke of an unfair trial. Applications by the defense to summon witnesses, including Prince Hamza, have been denied.

The convicts were charged with conspiring with Prince Hamza, the former crown prince and half-brother of King Abdullah II, so that Hamza would become king instead of king.

They were arrested in April.

Hamza was placed under house arrest but not charged himself.

Prince Hamza had denied coup allegations and said he would be punished for his allegations of corruption and mismanagement under the king.

In contrast, media loyal to the regime had spread that Awadallah in particular had conspired with help from abroad.

A participation of Saudi Arabia in particular was insinuated, especially since Awadallah is an advisor to the Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.

Awadallah's condemnation is unlikely to move very few

Jordan depends on financial aid from neighboring Saudi Arabia. Should unconfirmed press reports turn out to be true, however, that the Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad had pursued a plan with the then American government under Donald Trump to transfer the guardian role of Abdullah as administrator of the holy places in Jerusalem to Riyadh and to have planned this with the help of Prince Hamzas , that would put the Jordanian leadership in distress.

Awadallah is considered unpopular anyway, since during his time as finance minister a number of privatization measures were taken which, according to the common understanding, made a few Jordanians very rich, while the majority of the people suffered a loss of prosperity. His condemnation is unlikely to move, while Prince Hamza receives greater support. King Abdullah had stripped Hamza of the crown prince title in 2004 in favor of his own eldest son.