Gulf | Yemen
Sentenced to die after killing spree
A Yemeni man was on Saturday sentenced to death by firing squad for killing 7 people and injuring 12 others who had been praying in a mosque in Amran, north of the capital, late last month.
- By Nasser Arrabyee, Correspondent
- Published: 00:14 June 22, 2008
- Abdullah Saleh Al Kuhali, 26, weeps behind bars as he is sentenced to death in the northern Yemeni city of Amran yesterday. The court convicted him for opening fire outside a village mosque after Friday prayers.
- Image Credit: Reuters
Sana'a: A Yemeni man was on Saturday sentenced to death by firing squad for killing 7 people and injuring 12 others who had been praying in a mosque in Amran, north of the capital, late last month.
Chaired by Judge Abdul Bahri Abdullah, the penal court of Amran, 80 km north of Sana'a, handed down the death sentence to Abdullah Saleh Al Kuhali, 24, after he had been convicted of the crimes outside the mosque of the village of Kahal on May 30.
The court also fined Al Kuhali 5,740,000 Yemeni riyals (Dh106,096) as compensation for the injured.
Al Kuhali burst into tears when the verdict was announced. He kept weeping when the judge asked him if he wanted to appeal.
Khalid Al Shalali, the defendant's lawyer who was appointed by the court, asked for an appeal and said that his client be seen by a psychologist.
The murder of the mosque worshippers was criminally motivated.
Al Kuhali told the court in its first session earlier this month that he intended to avenge his honour by killing a man who had been involved in a sexual relationship with his sister. He said the main target of the shooting was a fellow clansman, identified as Belal Qasim Al Kuhali.
"He made my sister pregnant three times," the defendant replied to a question by the judge about the motives for the crime.
Belal was among six worshippers who died in the attack.
The court on Saturday also referred another man accused of setting fire to a mosque in the same province to a psychologist.
Hamid Ali Mukbel Al Shomi, 33, was accused of killing two men and injuring 24 others by setting fire to a mosque in Amran on April 6th, 2007.
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