Man sentenced to 2 years for hashish possession

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a September State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a man to two years in prison after convicting him of possessing illegal narcotics in the Tabarbour neighbourhood of Amman in April 2022.

The court declared the defendant guilty of obtaining the illegal narcotic hashish for personal use on April 14.

The SSC handed the defendant a two-year prison term for the offence, and ordered him to pay JD1,500 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.

“The AND agents stormed the defendant’s home and found a variety of illegal narcotics,” the court documents said.

The defendant confessed to obtaining the illicit drugs for personal consumption, the court papers added.

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 defence also charged that his client was subjected to “duress in order to confess” to the charges.

“My client possessed a small amount of drugs, which was for personal use. He was not intending to sell any illicit drugs in the local market,” the lawyers argued.

Meanwhile, the SSC’s prosecution office asked the higher court to uphold the sentence and fine imposed on the defendant.

The higher court maintained that the SSC had followed the proper sentencing procedures.

“It was clear to the court that the defendant confessed willingly to possessing the illegal drugs without being subjected to any form of duress,” the higher court said.

The Court of Cassation bench was presided over by Justice Mahmoud Ebtoush and included justices Majid Azab, Mohammad Sharieri, Fawzi Nahar and Ibrahim Abu Shamma.