SANAA, 12 June 2005 — A Yemeni judge, sentenced last year to ten years in prison for supporting a rebellion in the north of the country, had his sentence cut to five years by an appeals court yesterday.
Muhammad Ali Luqman, who presided over a primary court in the western Haraz district, was found guilty by a state-security court in the capital Sanaa of nine charges.
The charges ranged from supporting an armed rebellion to fomenting sectarian strife and instigating against the legitimate authority.
The initial ruling, handed down on Oct. 2, 2004, was the first in a series of convictions against alleged supporters of the slain rebel preacher Hussein Badruddin Al-Houthi.
Al-Houthi led armed followers against government forces in the northern province of Saada for nearly three months last year and was killed in an army raid on Sept. 10.
The appeals court judge Saeed Al-Qataa confirmed Lukman’s conviction for “spreading false news and incitement to civil war by calling on followers to fight another sect, but acquitted him of the charge of inciting against the regime for a lack of evidence and accordingly reduced the sentence to five years.
During the trial, the public prosecution brought five witnesses before the court to testify on Luqman’s links with Al-Houthi’s underground “Believing Youth” group.
But Luqman, whose judicial immunity was stripped by the Supreme Judicial Council on July 7, refuted the charges against him, saying they were “untrue and part of a conspiracy”.
Both the defense and the prosecution said they would challenge yesterday’s ruling before the Supreme Court.
Lukman said he wanted the court to clear him of all charges.
