Amman: According to his attorney, a Jordanian lawmaker was charged in his country on Tuesday with attempting to smuggle weapons into the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
If found guilty, Imad Al-Adwan, 35, could receive a 15-year prison term. On April 22, he was apprehended at the Israel-managed Allenby (King Hussein) crossing between Jordan and the West Bank. At the time, Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency claimed that Israeli security forces had discovered 12 rifles and 194 pistols in his car.
He was later given to Jordanian authorities by Israel. Imad Al-Adwan appeared today before the state security court and was questioned by the prosecutor following the confiscation of firearms and gold in his possession by the Israeli authorities," his attorney, Ali Al-Mubaeedin, told AFP.
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The lawyer continued, "The MP is accused of exporting weapons with the intent to use them illegally and of engaging in conduct that is likely to disturb public order and jeopardise national security."
After Egypt, Jordan was the second Arab nation to recognise and ratify a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. According to an earlier report from Jordan's official Petra news agency, "other defendants admitted to trading and smuggling weapons, gold, and e-cigarettes in association" with Adwan.
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According to Ahmad Safadi, speaker of the lower house of the Jordanian parliament, after Adwan was freed by Israel, the legislature voted to remove his immunity from prosecution in response to a court order. Adwan is a lawyer who serves on the Palestine committee of the Jordanian parliament.
Adwan allegedly used his diplomatic passport 12 times since February 2022 to smuggle various items, including "birds, pigeons, electronic cigarettes, and gold," according to a Shin Bet statement.
He started smuggling weapons across the border at the start of this year "out of greed, and received large sums of money," it continued. The West Bank has been under Israeli control since the Six-Day War in 1967. This year, the violence in the region has gotten worse as a result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.