 Four Yemenis accused of kidnapping five Italian tourists in a lawless area of Yemen in January were each sentenced to 20 years in jail Wednesday. The men, from the Al-Zaidi clan, were jailed by a Sanaa court for planning and carrying out the kidnapping. Two others, from the Al-Ameri clan, received five- and 10- year sentences for abetting the crime. The Italians, three women and two men, were freed after a five-day ordeal in the Maarib region following a standoff between security forces and the kidnappers.
One defense lawyer said the court ruling was unfair and vowed to press ahead with an appeal. "It is an unjust ruling and did not take into account the defense case which is that the defendants did not kidnap the tourists with the intent to hurt them but to pressure the government to release relatives imprisoned by authorities without a trial," said Mohammad Tuaiman.
| Interesting line of defense. They said they were going to kill them. What else were they gonna do? Put them up in the guest room for the next 60 years? |
The heavily guarded courtroom was packed with the defendants' relatives, most of them in traditional tribal dress.
| ... alternating between making faces and uttering threats and chewing qat... |
"Kidnapping is a peaceful way of diffusing the tension between tribesmen and the army," said the brother of Merai al-Ameri, who received the 10-year prison term.
| Ummm... Right. I love the incisive reasoning of the Arab mind. |
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