Amnesty Internationalappeals to President Saleh [Archives:2005/845/Front Page]

Amnesty International Organisation, Legal Aid Centre on 20 May 2005 sent a letter of appeal to the President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh requesting him to commute the death sentence against Fatma Hussein al-Badi, 42. Fatma Hussein al-Badi and her brother Abdullah were sentenced to death on February 17, 2001 by the Preliminary Court for murdering her husband Hamoud Ali al-Jalal. Both Fatma and her brother Abdullah were arrested on 13 July 2000 on charge of murdering the husband Hamoud Ali al-Jalal and then were sentenced to death. The Amnesty International statement added, “The two challenged the decision in the Court of Appeals which upheld the sentence against them on 12 august 2002. They then appealed to the Supreme Court. The case was examined by the persona division of the Supreme Court which upheld the decision against Abdullah but decided on 10 September 2003 to reduce the sentence against Fatma to four years imprisonment.” It says, “The case was then sent to the President who ratified the sentence against her brother Abdullah but decided to resend her case to the Supreme Court following complaints from the victim's family that the case had not been dealt with properly. Her brother Abdullah was executed on 2 May. According to her lawyer, the General Assembly of the Supreme Court reviewed the case and decided to reinstate the death sentence against Fatma. Fatma could be executed at any time if the President Aki Abdullah Saleh decides to ratify the death sentence against her, the Amnesty International statement said.

The statement of the Amnesty International urged all concerned parties to send as quickly as possible appeals to the president of Yemen to commute the death sentence against Fatma Hussein al-Badi, which would lead to her release as she has already served a longer sentence than the one passed by the Supreme Court.

He Amnesty International statement has also brought forth a background information mentioning, ” Amnesty International has longstanding concerns about the use of death penalty in Yemen, particularly as death sentences are often passed after proceedings which fall short of international standards for fair trial. While Amnesty International recognizes the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of recognizably criminal offences, it is unconditionally opposed to the death penalty in all cases as e ultimate violation of the right to life.
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