Jarallah’s murderer to be executedYSP rejects court verdict [Archives:2003/669/Front Page]

Mohammed bin Sallam
SANA'A, Sept 14 – The Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) expressed outrage and rejection of the court verdict against the murderer of the former opposition leader Jarallah Omar.
The murderer was sentenced to death on Sunday by firing squad for premeditated murder.
In a press statement released during its extraordinary meeting held last Sunday, the party expressed its deep concern at the court verdict and said that “the assassination of the YSP's assistant secretary general is a horrific crime that came as a result of plans set up some time ago to assassinate political leaders of the YSP based on a strategy of terrorism to achieve political objectives.”
The statement said that justice had not been served because the court denied the lawyers of the YSP and of the victim the right to call for interrogation of the “accomplices and real planners of the attack, who are still at large.”
Furthermore, Dr. Mohamed Al-Mikhlafi, a prominent member of the YSP's political office said, “We, ever since the assassination took place, have expressed our concern that the case will be messed with concerning the culprit who carried out the assassination. Our concerns became a reality as we can see that there are efforts made to hide those who planned the assassination and who financed and stood behind it.”
Dr. Al-Mikhlafi added that, “Our worries have originated from the strategy to limit the investigation from the early start to the implementer, and the judiciary was abused to serve this strategy. We are outraged at the refusal of the general attorney in investigating the case comprehensively and unveil those who stood behind the assassination of Jarallah Omar.”
“At the end of the day, what will stop the series of assassinations targeting YSP leaders and intellects in the country will only be through revealing the true criminals.”
Dr. Al-Mikhlafi also stressed that even from a legal point of view, “the verdict is invalid because it contradicts articles (396) and (397) of the Yemeni criminal punishment law because it ignores the possibilities of having accomplices and financers.”
This comes after Ali Jarallah Al-Sa'wani, a radical fundamentalist who once belonged to Islah Party, was found guilty of assassinating Jarallah Omar, the former deputy head of the Yemeni Socialist Party, in December during a party conference of Islah.
Six accomplices in the Omar murder were given terms between three to 10 years. Seven others alleged militants were acquitted by the court.
The sentence verdict was immediately appealed by the defendant's lawyer and the appeal was handed down by a court in the Yemeni capital Sana'a at a public trial.
“I reject this sentence,” said the bearded Jarallah, who appeared in court dressed in a blue prison uniform and sitting handcuffed behind bars, appeared composed upon hearing the verdict in his cage.
Jarallah was known for criticizing moderates in his party and the government. Officials say he was a comrade of an Islamic militant who was sentenced to death in May for killing three American Christians at a Baptist mission hospital in Yemen.
He is the second person this year to be sentenced to death for assassinating innocent civilians. In July, Abed Abdul Razak Kamel was sentenced to death for shooting the three Baptist workers in Jibla Hospital near Ibb City.
Yemeni security forces have arrested about 30 people for suspected links to Omar's murder as part of a large-scale hunt for Islamic militants suspected of ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group.
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