 Would-be suicide bomber Sajida Rishawi, standing for the November terror attacks, pleaded not guilty to the charges at the State Security Court on Monday. Her court-appointed defence lawyer Hussein Masri asked the tribunal to refer his client to a committee of government physicians for psychiatric evaluation. “My client was misled and did not realise what she was doing,” said Masri.
| She thought she was parachute jumping and the detonator was a rip cord. |
The attorney also asked the court for a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the attacks and recited verses of Koran.
| I'm sure veryone was very impressed with his piety. |
The court rejected his request for a psychiatric evaluation of the defendant. “It was evident to the court that the suspect is sane and can stand trial, therefore the court decides to reject the defence’s request and to proceed with the trial,” the presiding judge said.
| "So piss off, Mr. Counsel for the Defense!" |
| "No matter how pious you are!" |
Masri told The Jordan Times last week that when he informed Rishawi she might be executed, her reply was: ‘When are they going to deport me to Iraq?' Based on my interview with her, I do not think she is mentally sound. She also told me she has a sister who suffers from a mental condition.”
| I'm sure Jordan will be happy to deport her remains to Iraq. Apparently Hizzoner has decided she's not nutz, just stupid. |
Rishawi is officially charged by the prosecution with plotting subversive acts resulting in the death of an individual and possessing explosives with illicit intent. Jordanian fugitive Abu Mussab Zarqawi and six other men are being tried in absentia on the same charges.
| Not that it makes a difference to them. Zark's already got a couple deaths sentences in Jordan. That's why he spends his time on Tatooine. |
Meanwhile, the groom whose wedding was targeted during the Nov. 9 bombings described the night as “bloody and crazy” during an emotional 25-minute testimony. “As I was approaching the wedding hall with my bride and other guests at the Radisson SAS Hotel, I saw a flash and white dust filled the air. A second later I heard an explosion,” Ashraf Daas recounted. Daas, 32, the first prosecution witness to take the stand, described the terror attack as “a crazy second in my life.”
“I saw the ceiling collapse on the wedding guests and I saw my father and father in-law fall and die in front of my eyes,” he told the court. Daas said he entered the wedding hall and saw body parts scattered everywhere and “blood ... turning everything white in the hall to red. I got married on Nov. 9, but today I can really celebrate my wedding after seeing the suspects being tried for their crimes.” |