Fahd al-Qarni: 18 Months in Prison for a Song
A Yemeni popular signer was sentenced to one year and half in prison on Wednesday for allegedly abusing senior officials including head of the state the president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The primary court in Taiz province sentenced the comedian Fahd al-Qarni to one year and half in jail and fined him about 500.000 Yemeni rial (300.000 for the ruling party, and 200.000 for the cultural office in Taiz Governorate).
“The verdict will add a real dimension for my peaceful struggle,” Al-Qarni said commenting on the court verdict. He called the people to congratulate him.
The court session was held at early 6:30 in the morning before the working hours. The security force blocked all the streets leading to the court hall.
After the issue of the verdict, a number of citizens gathered protesting against the al-Qanri court verdict.
The riot police and the central security forces opened fired to disperse the protesters, the local sources said.
The sources added the police men beat the protesters including Faud Dahaba, Member of Parliament and a number of journalists.
The police men also arrested a number of journalists.
Al-Qarni was arrested on March 1 for allegedly abusing senior officials and he was also accused of triggering secession and of threatening the national unity in his latest cassettes. Al Qarni has been criticizing the policy of the government through his ironic songs.
