SANAA, 3 October 2004 — A Yemeni state security court sentenced a judge yesterday to ten years in jail after finding him guilty of backing the slain rebel cleric Hussein Badruddin Al-Houthi, who led a three-month rebellion in the north of the country.
Muhammad Ali Luqman, who heads the primary court of the western Haraz district, was convicted of nine charges ranging from supporting an armed rebellion to fomenting a sectarian strife and instigating against the legitimate authority.
Authorities said Luqman supported Al-Houthi who led his armed followers to battle against government forces in the northern province of Saada for nearly three months.
Al-Houthi was killed in a raid on his stronghold by army forces on Sept. 10.
Presiding judge of the Sanaa State Security Court said the court found that the evidence against Luqman was convincing.
Luqman’s lawyers were not present when the verdict was handed down, but Luqman told the court he would appeal the sentence.
During the trial, the public prosecution brought five witnesses who testified about their knowledge of Luqman’s links with religious rituals and ceremonies held by people who belonged to the Believing Youth Group led by Al-Houthi.
But Luqman, whose judicial immunity was stripped by the Supreme Judicial Council on July 7, denied the charges against him, saying they were untrue and part of a conspiracy.
The sentence is part of the clampdown against Al-Houthi that extended to include those who publicly voiced support to his revolt.
On Sept. 5, a Sanaa court sentenced a journalist to one year in prison and banned his weekly newspaper for six months after convicting him of publishing reports and articles supporting the rebel cleric. Abdul-Kareem Al-Khaiwani, editor of the Al-Shoura newspaper, mouthpiece of the opposition Popular Forces Union Party, was immediately sent to jail after the verdict was delivered.
Authorities have accused Al-Houthi, a former MP and an ideologue of the Zaidi Shiite sect of Islam, of setting up an underground armed group and inciting against the United States and Israel through violent protests. Fighting between government forces and Al-Houthi’s supporters left more than 400 people dead.
