Man sentenced to 2 years in prison for drug possession

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an April State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a drug dealer to two years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in Amman in November 2019.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining several kinds of illicit drugs on November 9 with the intent of selling them in the local market.

The SSC handed the defendant a two-year prison term for the offence of possessing illegal narcotics, and ordered him to pay JD2,000 in fines.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) received a tip that the defendant was in possession of illegal narcotics.

The defendant hid the illegal drugs in his home, and stashed some of the drugs in aluminium foil in preparation to distribute the illegal goods in the local market, according to court transcripts.

“The AND agents raided the house and seized various quantities of illicit drugs,” the court documents said. 

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who argued that the court “did not provide solid evidence to implicate his client”.

Meanwhile, the SSC prosecution office asked the higher court to uphold the sentence and the fine imposed on the defendant.

The higher court maintained that the SSC had followed the proper procedures in issuing the sentence against the defendant.

“It was clear to the court that the defendant confessed willingly to possessing the illegal drugs,” the higher court said.

The Court of Cassation judges presiding were Mohammad Ibrahim, Fawzi Nahar, Hammad Ghzawi, Ibrahim Abu Shamma and Hayel Amr.