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Ammon News -

The State Security Court (SSC) on Monday opened its first hearing into what has become publicly known as the "sedition" case in which Bassem Awadallah, a former minister of planning and finance, and Sharif "Abdulrahman-Hassan" bin Zaid face charges of incitement and sedition.

The two defendants arrived at the court building this morning in the Marka area of the capital. At the start of the hearing which lasted four hours, the court heard five public prosecution witnesses, two of whom were present and the other three whose testimonies were read during the hearing.

The court read the indictment to the defendants who pleaded not guilty on all charges.

The court adjourned the session to Tuesday.

In addition to incitement against the political regime, both men are being tried for "carrying out acts that endanger the safety and security of society and stirring up sedition in violation of Articles 2 and 7/I of the Anti-Terrorism Law No. 55 of 2006 and amendments thereto, and Article 7/F of the same law.

Moreover, the second defendant (Sharif "Abdulrahman-Hassan" bin Zaid) is facing the charge of possessing narcotics and substance abuse in violation of Article 9/A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law No. 23 of 2016.