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| Arabia |
| Inmate renounces Islam after 'inhumane' prison treatment in Yemen |
| 2007-03-21 |
| An Iraqi prisoner, convicted of forgery, announced this week that he has renounced Islam and converted to Christianity because of alleged bad treatment in a Yemeni prison. "I have apostatised from Islam and converted to Christianity because of the injustice and oppression I faced in an Islamic and Arab state that applies Islamic Sharia," said the Iraqi prisoner, Mohammad Rakhis Al Fadhli, in a letter he sent to local media from his prison in Sanaa. "Because of the bad treatment, I became partially paralysed on my right side, and I have not received any medicines, I was dealt with as if I were only a laboratory animal," he wrote. Saeed Al Aqel, the prosecutor of the court where Al Fadhli was tried, said Al Fadhli, was arrested over forgery charges. He confirmed Al Fadhli was imprisoned according to two court verdicts. The first, he said, was from the primary court ruling in May 2006 according to which he was sentenced to four years in prison. And the second was from the appeal court this month, where he received six years in prison instead of four. Prosecutor Al Aqel said Al Fadhli had tried several times to apostatise from Islam during the appeal court sessions "in an attempt to escape the punishment over the crime of forgery." Regarding Al Fadhli's allegations that he was prevented from receiving medical care, the prosecutor said: "The primary court obliged the prosecution to treat the prisoner Al Fadhli and he was transferred to the Central Prison's hospital for first aid, and then to the military hospital in Sanaa where he received medicines. We have kept the hospital's bills with dates on them that prove he was receiving medication in the hospital." The Yemeni constitution issues the death penalty for the renunciation of Islam. So he tried to escape punishment for forgery by committing a capital crime? |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 This way he won't have to worry about a long prison term. Bend your neck, CHOP, and it's over. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2007-03-21 08:11 |