In abnormal court’s sittingTerrorists receive imprisonment terms [Archives:2005/867/Front Page]
August 11 2005
 |
SANA'A- The Specialist Court on State's Security and Terror Cases ruled last Monday on the case of the 8 suspects charged with the formation of an armed band and plots to hit western interests in Yemen.
Plots of terrorists included bombing the British and Italian embassies and the French Cultural Center based in Sana'a.
Top suspect, Anwar al-Jailani, an Iraqi with a Swiss citizenship, was sentenced to five years imprisonment and the second suspect Khalid al-Batati to 3 years and 2 months.
Under the verdict, suspects No. 3, 4 and 5 Abdurrahman Bassurrah, Ahamd Khaiti and Mohammad Khaiti (two Syrian brothers) received 3-years and 4 months imprisonment term for each. Suspect No. 8 Amran al-Faqih was sentenced to 2 years in jail but the execution is suspended while suspects No. 6 and 7 were acquitted of the charges against them.
The court's hearing was rather unprecedented. It was attended by a number of journalists, lawyers and people interested in human rights. Reliable sources mentioned the court decided the cases after evidence was confirmed.
The top suspect was convicted of forging ID documents and being involved in the formation of an armed band plotting to hit western interests in and outside Yemen. He was also convicted of taking houses on lease, having military uniform, making surveillance of the locations of British and Italian embassies and the French Cultural Center in Sana'a and distributing roles among members of the band.
The court issued the verdicts after several months of hearings and trials on these terrorists who were captured while trying to launch different terrorist offensives. The 8-terrorist group was accused of forging official documents to facilitate their operations.
The court's previous sittings disclosed the 8 terrorists had been backed by “Al-Tawhid Battalions Organization”, which has a hand in attacks on western interests in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. The sessions uncovered the 8-terrorist group has been plotting to assassinate senior Yemeni government officials, among them were ministers of defense and interior, President of the Yemeni Intelligence Organization and a number of the ruling party leaders, however, these charges were not considered while issuing the final rulings.
The same court ruled on the case of the four Iraqi nationals accused of plotting attacks on western interests in Yemen. The four suspects who were affiliated to the former Iraqi Intelligence Organization were also charged with plots to attack any foreign diplomatic missions in Yemen. The charges were read out at the hearing.
Evidence was presented to the court, confirming the terrorists' confessions of plotting to bomb western interests in Yemen. Some of the suspects denied the charges they were accused of and claimed the appointment of a lawyer to defend them.
Many observers of the situation believe that trying terrorists and issuing verdicts against them is a great success achieved by the Yemeni judiciary.
——
[archive-e:867-v:13-y:2005-d:2005-08-11-p:front]
