Top Salafist leader in Jordan, Abed Shehadeh, known as Abu Mohammad Tahawi, and father-in-law of Jordanian of Palestinian origin Salafist, Mahmud Abdelal, who blew himself up in the Syrian city of Daraa last month, sits with his grandsons in the Baqaa Palestinian refugee camp, north of Amman, on November 1, 2012. Tahawi said more than 250 Jordanian jihadists are now in Syria to fight and that 13 others have been killed there. AFP PHOTO/KHALIL MAZRAAWI (Photo credit should read KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP/Getty Images)
Abed Shehadeh, known as Abu Mohammad Tahawi, was found guilty of “actions inciting opposition to the government” at the demonstrations in the northern Zarqa region.
Clashes broke out on April 15, 2011 on the margins of a rally organised by Tahawi, in which protesters called for the release of detained Salafists, who follow an ultra-conservative branch of Sunni Islam.
The violence left 91 people injured, the majority of them security personnel, according to official figures.
They coincided with anti-government protests in cities across Jordan.
Some 150 Salafists were put on trial in August 2011 on charges including leading riots, “terrorist acts” and “illegal acts of destruction”.
The majority are being tried in absentia.
Tahawi has been detained since his arrest in December 2015.
