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Yemen court condemns Shia rebel to death
A Yemeni court sentenced a Shia rebel to death and 12 others to jail terms of up to 10 years yesterday after they were convicted of forming an armed group and killing two security officers. The court acquitted one of two women among a total of 15 defendants charged with forming "Sanaa's Cell Two" by Huthi Zaidi rebels who have been battling security forces in northwest Yemen since 2004. Charges against a male defendant who died in prison were dropped. The man condemned to death was named as Jaafar Al Mirhabi, 25. Among those sentenced to prison was the editor of Zaidi weekly Al Shura Abdel Karim Al Khiwani, who was jailed for six years. Four of the defendants were sentenced to 10 years in prison, while two others were jailed for eight years. Another defendant was jailed for six years. Mona Ali Zaid Al Khalek, the second woman in the alleged cell, was sentenced to four years in prison, while three other people were handed down jail terms of between one and five years. The group, whose trial opened last July 4, was convicted of plotting to attack Yemeni troop transporters and government buildings and contaminate the water supply of military bases. They were also found guilty of killing two security officials who died chasing "criminals," court papers said, without providing details. Yemen's union of journalists condemned the sentence against Khiwani, who was taken into custody straight after the sentence was pronounced. "The court sentence against Khiwani is harsh. We reject and condemn it, and it should be revoked," said the head of the union, Nasr Taha Mostapha. Yemen's Saada province in the northern mountains on the border with Saudi Arabia has been the heartland of an uprising launched by the Zaidi rebels in 2004 in which thousands of people have died. Posted by: Fred 2008-06-11 |
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