Cassation Court upholds prison sentences for 3 defendants in drug possession case

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a July 2022 State Security Court (SSC) ruling sentencing two men and one woman to prison terms ranging from three years to 30 months after convicting them of possessing illegal narcotics for personal use in Amman in February 2022.

The court declared the defendants guilty of possessing illegal narcotics while in downtown Amman on February  11.

The SSC handed one of the defendants a punishment of three years in prison and ordered him to pay JD3,000 in fines.

The two other defendants were handed 30 months in prison each and were ordered to pay JD2,500 each in fines.

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

“The AND agents arrested one of the defendants and found a variety of illegal narcotics including Captagon pills, Hashish and Crystal meth,” court documents said.

The two other defendants were arrested the same day by law-enforcement agency officers, the court added.

The defendants contested the SSC’s ruling through their lawyers, who argued that the court “should reduce the prison term since their clients do not have a criminal record”.

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

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

“It was clear to the court that the defendants confessed willingly to possessing the illegal drugs for their personal use,” the higher court said.

Therefore, the higher court maintained that the defendants deserved the punishment they received.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Yassin Abdullat, Hammad Ghzawi, Qassem Dughmi, Mohammad Khashashneh and Nayef Samarat.