The Criminal Court has sentenced the owner of a place being used for drug consumption activities to 10 years in prison, marking the first time such a conviction has been secured against a property owner.

In the case where drugs were discovered last January in a rented space in the house named G. Pelican, the state prosecuted the house owner, Ibrahim Nazim, for knowingly permitting or authorizing a place to be used for trafficking, peddling, using, or producing narcotic drugs under circumstances where it could be reasonably believed that such an act was taking place.

The Criminal Court's ruling issued yesterday stated that based on drug use and trafficking incidents linked to a rented unit in that house since 2014, the place had been searched on multiple occasions, and police had repeatedly informed him about the matter. The ruling also noted that evidence shows he was the one who rented out the place to other parties.

According to the judgment, even though the place was rented to other parties, because he maintained the rental agreement even after the police repeatedly informed him that criminal activities were taking place, it must be considered that he provided the opportunity for those criminal acts to be committed.

Therefore, the ruling stated that it was proven he permitted the space to be used for drug activities while knowing that such acts were happening there.

For these reasons, the judgment stated that he was sentenced to 10 years in prison under the Drug Act.