Court upholds SSC ruling against two convicted of drug possession, trafficking

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation on Wednesday upheld an October State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing two drug dealers to 10 years in prison for possessing and trafficking illicit drugs, convicted in January 2018.

The court declared the defendants guilty of possessing 7kg of hashish and dozens of Captagon pills with the intent of selling them locally in January last year.

They were each handed a 15-year prison term, but the SSC immediately reduced their sentences to 10 years, “because they are young and they deserve a second chance in life”, according to court transcripts.

The SCC also ordered the defendants to pay JD7,000 each in fines.

Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) personnel were informed that the defendants were dealing with illegal drugs in Qweismeh area.

“A force monitored the two defendants and arrested them while they were in their vehicle in the area,” court documents said.

Upon searching the vehicle, the court added, AND operatives found hashish, Captagon pills and other illegal narcotics and arrested the two men.

The defendants claimed that “they were innocent and that they were subjected to torture and duress in order to confess to a crime they did not commit”.

The two defendants also contested the interrogation procedures and stated that “the SSC relied on the testimonies of other defendants who were acquitted to indict them”.

Nonetheless, the higher court sustained that the SSC followed proper proceedings in the issuance of the sentences against the defendant.

The Court of Cassation judges presiding were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zu’bi, Yassin Abdullat, Saeed Mugheid, and Hamad Ghzawi.