Man sentenced to five years in prison for narcotics possession

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a September 2022 State Security Court (SSC) ruling sentencing a man to five years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in Aqaba in January 2022.

The court declared the defendant guilty of possessing Hashish at his house on January 31.

The SSC handed the defendant a seven-year prison term for the charges and ordered him to pay JD7,000 in fines.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to five years in prison and reduced the fine to JD5,000 “to give the defendant a second chance in life”.

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

On the day of the raid, the law-enforcement agency officers raided the defendant’s home.

“The defendant resisted arrest but was eventually subdued by AND officers and no one was injured during the raid,” court papers said.

The officers searched his house and found a small amount of Hashish, court papers added.

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who claimed that the prosecution failed to provide any solid evidence that would implicate his client.

The lawyer also argued that the SSC prosecution witnesses provided contradictory testimonies during the trial.

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 sentences against the defendant.

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