Michigan - The American Center for Justice (ACJ) stated that the competent criminal court in the temporary Yemeni capital, Aden, yesterday sentenced the former commander of the Transportation Brigade in the Presidential Guard, Major General Amjad Khaled and seven others to death. The ACJ called on the higher judicial and political authorities not to rely on that ruling and to overturn it. 

According to information received by the Center, the court headed by Judge Yahya Al-Saeedi yesterday, Tuesday, sentenced 8 defendants to death, against the backdrop of the two cases of bombing the convoy of the governor of the capital, Aden, “Ahmed Hamid Lamlas,” and the bombing of Aden International Airport. The people sentenced to death are Major General Amjad Khaled Farhan Al-Qahtani, Muhammad Ahmed Yahya Al-Maysari, Haroun Khaled Muhammad, Saleh Wadih Saleh Al-Haddad, Ibrahim Wadih Saleh Al-Haddad, Fahd Fahim Marhi, Ahmed Ali Ahmed Al-Mashdali, and Fares Ali Salem. The court also issued prison sentences of varying years against other defendants for participating in an armed gang.

In the allegations it brought against Major General Amjad Khaled, the specialized prosecution accused him of “committing 7 terrorist operations, including car bombings that targeted senior officials and caused the death of dozens of innocent people,” according to what was stated in the indictment. 

In a related context, the Specialized Criminal Court yesterday also sentenced journalist “Ahmed Maher” for 4 years imprisonment. Ahmed has been detained for about two years without presenting any real evidence of the accusations against him other than the journalist’s confessions of committing bombings and assassinations due to the torture he was subjected to, which he denied in More than occasion through his lawyer.

The ACJ notes that the death sentence issued by the Specialized Criminal Court violates what has been established by international law, namely the inadmissibility of establishing special courts, the necessity of trying the accused before  a normal judge, ensuring the independence of the judiciary, and enabling the accused to enjoy all his legal rights.

The center stressed that these rulings were not reliable because the defendants hadn't been subjected to fair trials and did not present full defenses for themselves. Moreover, the record of that court is full of similar incidents.

The ACJ added that the Southern Transitional Council, which controls Aden, uses the judicial authorities as a means of political revenge and persecution of its rivals and opponents, as well as using it as a cover to legitimize the unjust rulings issued by those judicial authorities, emphasizing that the behavior of the Prosecution and the Specialized Criminal Court is marred by many flagrant legal and procedural violations that destroy any legal basis for those rulings and investigations. 

Accordingly, the American Center for Justice (ACJ) calls for the repeal of these rulings and the ending the political revenge through the use of the judiciary. It also highlighted that these judicial rulings were invalid because they lack recognized legal foundations. The ACJ called on the international community to pressure the Southern Transitional Council to stop its violations and prosecutions against activists and political opponents.