Man sentenced to 2 years for narcotics possession

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a March 2022 State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to two years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in August 2021. 

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining illegal narcotics (Captagon) intended for personal consumption.

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

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

On August 13, the AND agents arrested the suspect and found 45 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”.

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.