SAM has learned that the penal court in Sana'a has sentenced 30 detainees to death in the so-called 36 cases (Nasr al-Salami and others). "The ruling issued by the Houthis court is legally null and void because it was issued by a court that lacks jurisdiction according to the decision made by the Supreme Judicial Council, and noting that the trial lacks fair trial principle" SAM said.
In a statement issued Tuesday, July 9, 2019, SAM asserted that it had documented serious violations during the alleged trial sessions, including violation to basic judicial rules guaranteeing the integrity of the trial, the right of the defendants to defend themselves, threat and detention of their lawyers during the court sessions and the refusal to register their applications. And the torture of the accused during the trial period, and at the halls adjacent to the courtroom and during the hearings, and the absence of Dr. Yousuf al-Bawab from attending the last hearing in which the case was reserved for the ruling. In the same session, the court obliged the defense to respond to the "Criminal Lab”, which was presented in five pages, within one hour and rejected the lawyers' request to give them an opportunity to review and respond to it. The court also heard the prosecution response at the same hearing and the case was closed to hear the verdict, without considering the requests of the defendants and the defense team, which is a clear breach to the criminal justice law and fair trial rules, and raises serious concerns about the intention to issue harsh sentences against civilian detainees. "
SAM emphasizes that the sentences issued by the courts of the Houthis militia are worthless and that they constitute as crimes committed by the official profiteers of judges, members, prosecutors, and other perpetrators.
Over the past months, Houthis militia has doubled the torture on the detainees, denied them the weekly visits in the Political Security Prison, and caused tragic circumstances for the detainees, as described by SAM in detail in previous statements.
SAM has expressed concern in previous reports, about the expected harsh sentences against the 36 detainees, who have been tried before an unconstitutional court, which was overturned by a decision of the Supreme Judicial Council. During the last period, the court ignored complaints by detainees of continued torture in the Political Security Prison, ignored the legal argument of the defense team, and rejected some of their legal demands and arrested their lawyers to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. The court is the same one that has issued death sentences against the President and his advisers, in addition to the proceeding of looting and confiscation of property of more than two thousand citizens, and seized their property and put them under judicial custody in preparation for their confiscation.
SAM confirms that, this court is unconstitutional and that its rules are both null and void, and also stresses that this court is currently used as a cruel tool by the Houthis militia to extort and harass its opponents and to justify some of its crimes and give them legal status as a judicial body.
SAM stresses that such verdicts reveal once again that the Houthis militia is not serious in implementing Stockholm accord, on the release of all prisoners and detainees, as these rules decrease confidence between the parties to the negotiations.
SAM also reiterates its call on the international community and the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to urgently push Houthis militia to release all detainees unconditionally and to stop all trials.
SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties, Geneva
9 July 2019