Appeals Court Refuses to Release al-Khaiwani
This is a disaster! Postponed until November? Even the court says he was sentenced to jail for writing articles and having CD’s of photos of the war dead.
The Court of Appeals, specialized in terrorism issues, delayed looking into a request by the defense lawyer of journalist Abdul-Karim al-Khaiwani to release him until November 2008.The court took the decision in an appeal session on Tuesday on the case of 15 people, called Sana’a Second Cell, convicted by a primary court of forming an armed group to attack country’s interests and supporting rebels in Sa’ada, north of Yemen.
The first convict Jafar al-Marhabi was sentenced to death and other 13 were sentenced to different terms in jail. Al-Khaiwani was sentenced to six years term in jail over “writing articles against the president and possessing CDs supporting al-Houthi’s rebellion and threatening the country’s interests”. The court quitted one of the convicts after he died inside the detention unit.
In Tuesday’s session, the Prosecutor demanded that the court refuses appeals of convicts, but defense lawyers demanded the release of their clients and canceling charges against them “as there is no an adequate evidence that the convicts met to form an armed group and committed criminal acts.”
As the vacation of the judges in Yemen starts on the 1st of August, the court adjourned the sessions until November 9, 2008.
