Asia

Home page

Asia

Yemenis rally to demand trial of former president

23 March 2012 18:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Tens of thousands of Yemeni protesters held rallies across the country’s major cities on Friday, demanding that former President Ali Abdullah Saleh be put on trial for "ordering crackdown on anti-government protests last year", APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The protesters in the capital Sanaa and other major provinces including Taiz, al-Bayda, Aden, Hadramout, Shabwa, Hajja and al- Hodeida dubbed the day "Saleh’s trial is our demand," said witnesses.

The Yemeni Human Right Ministry said last week in an official statement that at least 2,000 protesters had been killed since the anti-government protests erupted in January 2011.

After one-year protests, the 33-year ruler stepped down last month in return for a full immunity from prosecution under a UN- backed deal agreed by Saleh’s party and the opposition coalition with the aim of staving off Yemen from sliding into a civil war.

However, the immunity clause sparked almost daily nationwide protests demanding that Saleh and his aides be prosecuted for " ordering the deadly crackdown against the protesters."

"No immunity for murderers. Saleh must face trial," chanted the protesters in Sanaa.

Tensions between Saleh’s party, General People’s Congress, and the opposition escalated recently after Yemeni Prime Minister Mohammed Basindwa publicly accused forces loyal to Saleh of killing thousands of the protesters last year.

Ministers of Saleh’s party boycotted the cabinet’s meeting on Tuesday for two hours in response to Basindwa’s accusation.