Parliament makes amendments to 'honor-killing' article

Jordan

Published: 2017-07-30 17:13

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 09:03


The article made it possible the sentence of honor-killers to be reduced to one year imprisonment.
The article made it possible the sentence of honor-killers to be reduced to one year imprisonment.

The Jordanian Parliament voted on Sunday to remove the mitigated excuse offered under Article 340 of the Jordanian Penal Code to “honor-killing” murderers.

Article 340 cites that “a husband who surprises his wife or a close female relative in the act of adultery with another person, and kills, injures or harms either of them, or both, shall benefit from a mitigating excuse.”

The second clause of the same Article reads: “The perpetrator of a killing or an injury shall benefit from a mitigating excuse if he surprises a spouse, ascendant, descendant, or sibling with another person in an unlawful bed.”

According to the Article, those who benefit from the mitigating excuse of the article would also not be subject to aggravating circumstances.

Article 97 of the penal code states that if the punishment of a crime is execution or life imprisonment and the mitigating conditions are present, the sentence can be reduced to at least one year imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Legal Committee defended the removal of the mitigated excuse in article 340, saying that the Committee supported Jordanian women, and that it’s time for the Parliament to support them as well.