Man sentenced to over 2 years for drug possession

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an October 2021 State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to over two years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in Ramtha District in December 2019.

The court declared the defendant guilty of possessing illegal pills and other narcotics with the intent of selling them locally on December 20, and handed him a three-year prison term.

The court also ordered him to pay JD3,000 in fines.

However, the SSC immediately reduced the sentence to two-year-and-a-half in prison “because he is young and deserves a second chance in life”, according to court transcripts.

The SSC also maintained the fine against the defendant ordering him to pay JD3,000.

Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) agents were informed that the defendant had stashed illegal drugs in his house, according to court transcripts.

“A task force monitored the defendant’s movement and raided his house,” court documents said.

Upon searching the house, the court added, AND operatives found 1,500 Captagon pills and other illegal narcotics hidden inside the house.

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling, charging that the court failed to examine the investigation procedures and that “the questioning of the defendant was not conducted in accordance with the law”.

Nonetheless, the higher court ruled that the SSC followed the right procedures in the issuance of the sentence against the defendant.

The higher court maintained the investigation procedures were accurate, and the defendant had received the appropriate punishment.

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