Cassation Court upholds 10-year sentence for drug possession

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June 2023 State Security Court (SSC) ruling sentencing a man to 10 years in prison after convicting him of possessing over 50 kilogrammes of Hashish in Mafraq in March 2018.

The court declared the defendant guilty of possessing and transporting 55 kilogrammes in Mafraq city on March 19.

The SSC handed the defendant a 15-year prison term for the charges and ordered him to pay JD10,000 in fines.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to 10 years in prison while maintaining the JD10,000 “to give the defendant a second chance in life”.

Court documents said the Mafraq Anti-Narcotics Department (MAND) learned that the defendant planned to possess a large quantity of illegal drugs that he planned to sell in the local market.

“The law-enforcement agency placed the defendant under surveillance,” court papers said.

On March 19, the court maintained, the MAND officers followed the defendant to a house in Mafraq where they “saw him placing two large bags in his vehicle”.

“The officers attempted to stop the defendant but he sped off and headed to his mother’s house,” the court stated.

However, law enforcement officers were able to arrest him and seize the illegal drugs, the court maintained.

The defendant contested the SSC’s ruling through his lawyer, who argued that his client “never confessed to possessing the illegal drugs".

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, Hammad Ghzawi, Qassem Dughmi, Nayef Samarat and Mohammad Khashashneh.