Human rights groups stand in solidarity with Al-Moayyad, Zayed [Archives:2008/1122/Local News]
SANA'A, Jan. 19 ) As many as 18 local human rights organizations and groups staged Saturday a huge demonstration in solidarity with Sheikh Mohammed Al-Moayyad and his companion Mohammed Zayed, who have been detained in a U.S. jail for five years. The event was organized in Al-Tahrir Square in downtown Sana'a.
The protestors released a statement saying that continued detention of the pair may force Yemenis, and Arab and Muslim citizens in general form a negative image about the U.S. Administration and increase Muslims' hatred and animosity toward Americans.
At the sit-in, attended by more than two thousand people, the Yemeni civil community organizations renewed their conviction that Sheikh Al-Moayyad is a pioneer in charity and humanitarian work in Yemen and has clear marks in helping the poor and the needy. They pointed out that releasing the detainees may help maintain positive relations between Americans and Arab and Muslim nations, and restore the American judiciary's seemingly lost reputation.
Holding the sit-in on the five-year anniversary of the pair's capture at the German Frankfurt Airport and subsequent extradition to U.S. authorities, the participating NGOs demanded that the two receive fair compensation for the injustice and oppression they suffered over the past five years. They also claimed the Yemeni government should expend further diplomatic efforts for the sake of freeing the victims.
The organizations sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Justice Elberto Gonzales in which they strongly denounced the pair's sufferings and their disappointment with the American judiciary for giving the aged man and his companion unfair verdicts, demanding that it correct the mistakes and violations committed by its government against the Yemeni citizens. The sit-in involved hundreds of poor people and widows who raised pictures of Al-Moayyad and Zayed, as well as banners claiming that the pair must be released as soon as possible. The sit-in's supervisory committee considered what happened to both detainees as a severe attack against the virtues of sympathy, kindness and solidarity with the poor, patients, orphans and oppressed.
Affirming that Al-Moayyad, described as “father of the poor and needy,” has no connection with terrorism, the committee claimed the U.S. Administration should stop oppressing him and Zayed.
Before the sit-in's conclusion, the National & Popular Committee for Defending Al-Moayyad and Zayed, activitst Sheikh Hamoud Hashem Al-Dharihi renewed his call for the U.S. Administration to immediately free his compatriots, expressing his gratitude to all the Yemeni NGOs that took part in the event and expressed their solidarity with the victims.
Many NGO representatives and Parliament members gave speeches at the event, stressing that Al-Moayyad is innocent and demanding that he and his companion be repatriated and compensated for the injustice and oppression they suffered in the U.S. jail over the past five years.
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