2 men handed 3-month prison terms each for drug possession

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a September State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing two drug dealers to three months in prison each after convicting them of possessing illegal narcotics in Zarqa in December of 2019.

The court declared the defendants guilty of obtaining over half a kilogramme of illegal narcotics in mid-December with the intent of selling the drugs in the local market.

The SSC handed the defendants each a one-year prison term for the offence of possessing illegal narcotics.

The court also ordered each defendant to pay JD1,000 in fines.

However, the court decided to reduce the prison term to three months for each of the two defendants to give them “a second chance in life”.

The court also reduced the fines passed against the defendants to JD600 each.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learnt the defendants were in possession of illegal narcotics and pulled them over.

“The AND agents found the illegal narcotics hidden in their vehicle and arrested them,” court documents said.

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

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

The higher court maintained that the SSC had followed the proper procedures in issuing the sentences against the defendants.

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