The King of Jordan is Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein. He took the throne in February 1999 following the death of his father Hussein bin Talal. The crown prince was Abdullah’s younger brother Prince Hamzah bin Hussein until 2004 when Abdullah named his own son as the crown prince. Prince Hamzah bin Hussein has over the years grown in popularity and is seen favorably by many in Jordan. Tensions grew recently between Prince Hamzah and King Abdullah leading to Hamzah being placed under house arrest. Now Jordan has ordered a ban on media coverage about the royal rift and carried out its own version of the trial of the century by bringing a relative of King Abdullah II and a former chief of the royal court into the defendants’ cage. Karin Laub and Omar Akour had this story in Associated Press (AP). Here is an excerpt:

A former top adviser to King Abdullah II and a relative of the monarch pleaded not guilty Monday to sedition and incitement charges linked to an unprecedented public rift in Jordan’s royal family.

The defendants are accused of conspiring with a senior royal — Prince Hamzah, a half-brother of the king — to foment unrest against the monarch while soliciting foreign help.

The highly anticipated trial was held under a heavy cloak of secrecy, signaling that Jordan’s rulers are determined to maintain tight control over the sensitive affair. The defendants were sneaked into the state security court, apparently in SUVs with blacked-out windows, as dozens of journalists waited for hours near the main gate for any word about the proceedings inside.

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