Man sentenced to 2 years for drug possession

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an August State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to two years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in March 2022.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining Captagon pills with the intent of consuming them.

The SSC sentenced the defendant to two years in prison and ordered him to pay JD2,000 in fines.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learnt the defendant was in possession of Captagon pills and placed him under surveillance.

On March 1, the AND agents arrested the suspect and found 15 Captagon pills in his possession.

The defendant confessed to possessing the illegal narcotics for personal use, the court added.

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who argued that the court “issued a harsh punishment against my client who confessed to possessing the illegal narcotics”.

The defence also asked the court for a reduced sentence “since the punishment for consuming illegal narcotics is usually one year in prison”.

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 in issuing the sentence against the defendant.

“It was clear to the court that the defendant confessed willingly to possessing the illegal drugs,” the higher court said.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mahmoud Ebtoush, Nayef Samarat, Hammad Ghzawi, Mohammad Khsashneh and Qassem Dughmi.