The Attorney General Reacts Positively [Archives:1998/44/Local News]

Dr. Al-Murtadha Al-Muhatwary was arrested on the eve of 26th of September, 1998. He is still at the Sanaa Investigations Bureau jail. No charges have been filed. 
No court appearance is planned. 
“I have not been interrogated. They refuse to take me in front of a judge. They block any visitors,” he complained. 

Now the authorities will not even allow people to go and visit the man. “A group of us tried to visit him on Wednesday, October 28. The guards would not let us see him. They demanded a prior permit, which is odd and against the law,” explained a group of opposition politicians in a memo distributed on 1/10/1998. 
Acting on that memo, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf, Chairman of the Human Rights Committee at the Consultative Council, held a meeting with Dr. Abdullah Al-Olofi, the attorney general. He also handed him an official letter asking for immediate release. “Dr. Al-Olofi is a civilized man. He understands the dictates of the law, and promised immediate action accordingly on this matter,” Saqqaf said. 
Dr. Saqqaf’s letter to the attorney-general also asked for authorization to carry out an independent autopsy on the body of Wadee Shaibani, who died during interrogation in Aden earlier this year. 
The official medical report on the cause of the death states that the young man bashed his head against the wall of the prison cell, thus committing suicide. Members of his family claim that he was tortured and that he was murdered during interrogation. 
“I have faith and cnfidence on the integrity and professionalism of the new attorney-general. He promised me an answer within two days. I am sure we will work by the law,” Saqqaf said. 

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