Man sentenced to 3 years in jail for drug possession

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a September State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to three years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in Amman in January 2020.

The court declared the defendant guilty of possessing illegal narcotics in Sahab on January 20 and handed him the maximum punishment.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) received a tip-off that the defendant was in possession of illegal narcotics and sent one of its agents to pose as a buyer.

“AND agents attempted to pull him over but he sped off and was later arrested while at his house without any major incident,” court documents said.

Upon searching the defendant, court papers said, AND personnel found "a stash of prohibited drugs in his possession". 

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

“My client denied throughout the investigation procedures that he owned any prohibited drugs or that he fired any live rounds as charged by the prosecution,” the defence lawyer said.

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 while issuing the sentences 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 were Mohammad Ibrahim, Ahmad Qatawneh, Majid Azab, Saeed Mugheid and Hammad Ghzawi.