Court upholds over 2 years’ sentence for drug dealer

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a September State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a drug dealer to over two years in prison after convicting him of trafficking illegal narcotics in Amman in January of last year.

The court declared the defendant guilty of trading a variety of illegal narcotics in the local market in January 2021.

The SSC handed the defendant a three-year prison term for the offence of possessing illegal narcotics.

The court also ordered the defendant to pay JD2,500 in fines.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to 30 months in prison to give the defendant “a second chance in life”.

The court maintained the fine amount that was imposed on the defendant.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) arrested the defendant in January because he was a known drug dealer.

Upon inspecting the defendant’s mobile, the court maintained, “investigators found photos and chat messages that proved that he was possessing illegal drugs and selling it to individuals”.

“Upon questioning the defendant by AND agents, he confessed to possessing the illegal drugs at one point and to selling it to people in the local market,” court documents said.

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

The lawyer also argued that investigators did not “find illegal drugs with the defendant and that they build their case on photos and chat messages”.

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.

“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 presiding were Mohammad Ibrahim, Majid Azab, Hael Amr, Fawzi Nahar and Ibrahim Abu Shamma.