A Jordanian criminal court has sentenced a former intelligence chief to 13 years in prison for embezzlement of public funds, money laundering and abuse of office.
It was the harshest sentence in years against such a high-profile figure in Jordan. The presiding judge, Nashaat Akhras, also demanded in court that Mohammed al-Dahabi pay 21m Jordanian dinars (£18m) in fines to the state and return money he allegedly laundered and embezzled during his 2005-2008 tenure as head of Jordanian intelligence. The judge said that amount was estimated at 24m dinars.
"You deserve the harshest punishment for being a traitor to the people who trusted you with a government position and state funds," Akhras told Dahabi.
The defence lawyer Mahmoud Kilani said Dahabi would appeal against the verdict.
Dahabi was arrested in February, when inspectors from the Central Bank of Jordan suspected transactions worth millions of dollars had gone through his bank account.
The rare case against a senior official is meant to show Jordan's seriousness in efforts to tackle corruption, a demand voiced in recent street protests.
In 2003 Jordan sentenced another former intelligence chief to eight years in jail for forgery of state documents and abuse of office. Sameeh al-Batikhi was released after serving his prison term.
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