Man receives 2-month prison sentence for drug possession

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation upheld a November State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to two months in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in Amman in July 2021.

The court declared the defendant guilty of possessing illegal narcotics (hashish) on July 21 in an apartment in Abdoun for personal use.

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

The court also ordered the defendant to pay JD1,000 in fines.

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

The court also reduced the fines against the defendant to JD200.

Court documents said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) learned the defendant was in possession of illegal narcotics and raided his apartment.

“The AND agents found butts of hashish cigarettes in the defendant’s house and arrested him,” 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”.

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 Court of Cassation presiding judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Yassin Abduullat, Hamad Gzawi, Nayef Samarat and Mohammad Khashashneh.