Runaway soldier’s family arrested, held without charge - Yemen

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http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1134&p=report&a=3

Murad Al-Khamisi, a 19-year-old soldier at the Sayoun branch of Central Security, is accused of deserting the military and stealing arms from the branch. To compel his return, the military imprisoned Al-Khamisi’s father and two older brothers.

Al-Khamisi disappeared June 20 and no one knows if he’s currently alive or dead. After Al-Khamisi’s disappearance, the military arrested his father and two older brothers without charge. Neither the military nor prison officials observed the rights of habeus corpus, which dictates that individuals in custody be brought before a court so that those detaining them can justify the detention, so the men languished in jail for a week without knowing what charges they faced.

Ali Al-Dailami, Executive Director of the , pointed out that , under Yemeni law, it’s illegal to arrest “family members for more than eight months.

“If they doubt the family assisted their son in stealing the arms, they may imprison them legally, but for no more than 48 hours,” Al-Dailami explained, after which they must be referred to prosecution for investigation and lastly, allowing a judge – the only one able to decide – to mandate whether they should be imprisoned or released.

Al-Khamisi, who joined the military immediately after graduating from high school, worked as a guard for the Sayoun arms warehouse for four years. Al-Khamisi’s family likewise are involved in the military, as his two older brothers and father also are servicemen.