Jordan: 2 men get 10 years for "honor killings"

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A Jordanian man who stabbed his sister to death in a premeditated "honor crime" was sentenced to ten years prison along with his cousin and accomplice, a court official said Wednesday. Jordan's criminal court initially sentenced both men to death but then commuted the verdict because the father and the husband of the slain woman dropped the charges, said the official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to talk to the press. According to the indictment, the woman was killed with a kitchen knife by her brother while her cousin prevented her from fleeing as a punishment for having allegedly had a relationship with her husband before marrying him. The indictment sheet said the brother did not approve this relationship and had intended to marry the victim to another man. It said he first planned to poison his sister, before stabbing her to death in September 2004. The knife broke during the killing, so he brought another knife and continued to hit until she died, it said.