Hodeidah courts and prosecutions... buildings without judges and deliberate obstruction of the implementation of sentences
English - Tuesday 01 August 2023 الساعة 04:21 pm
Hodeidah, NewsYemen, exclusive:
The prisons of the liberated districts in Al Hodeidah Governorate (southwestern Yemen) are crowded with hundreds of inmates, in light of the failure to decide on case files for long periods due to the disruption of the work of the first instance and appeal courts.
Hundreds of sentences, including executions, are pending execution as they are hostage to serious decisions of the Presidential Leadership Council and the Supreme Judiciary, in order to activate the “Court of Appeal”, which has not held even a single session over the past three years since the appointment of its president.
On August 19, 2020, the Supreme Judicial Council appointed Judge Al-Ezzi Baakar, head of the Court of Appeal in Al-Khawkhah, which the local authority in the governorate takes as its center, in light of the Houthi militia's control over the city of Hodeidah and the Court of Appeal there. Since the date of appointment, the Supreme Judicial Council has not decided to activate this court, which also lacks a judicial division.
A judicial source confirmed to "Newsyemen" that the prisons of the "Hais, At-Tahita and Al-Khawkhah" districts of Al-Hodeidah governorate are overcrowded with dozens of inmates, due to the absence of courts in them that decide on the backlog of cases, with the exception of the Al-Khoekha Court of First Instance. He said: Thousands of judgments were suspended because they were preliminary, especially death sentences, felonies and lands, because the convicts could not appeal them.
Although Judge Baakar rushed, immediately after his appointment, to make preliminary arrangements for the purpose of activating the court and holding its first session, this did not happen during the past three years of his appointment, according to the source. Pointing out that this responsibility is borne by the Supreme Judicial Council and the Presidential Leadership Council in order to revive the judiciary.
The judicial source stated that the buildings of the courts and prosecution offices in these directorates are available, and what is lacking is the appointment and activation of judges, explaining that the requirements for activating the Hays court and prosecution lie in the provision of human cadres (a court judge, a criminal judge, a prosecutor, a member of the prosecution and a security guard), in addition to To provide support for the judicial and administrative staff, while the material needs are: a solar energy system, covering the shortage with furniture, and providing detention for prisoners under the custody of the court and the prosecution.
The Public Prosecution Office of Al-Khawkha and the rest of the liberated areas in the governorate also need a permanent building for the Public Prosecution Office, support for the administrative staff, a solar energy system, and covering the shortage of furniture, in addition to providing a computer and a means of transportation for the Public Prosecutor, with the adoption of a fuel budget for transportation.
The source stated that the staff currently available are Judge Amir Mansour - Judge of the Al-Khoekha Court, Judge Abdul Rahman Al-Aghbari - Head of the Al-Khoekha Court, and Judge Abdul Rahman Al-Khuzaie - Prosecutor of Al-Khoekha Court. He pointed out that other obstacles faced by judges in these directorates, most notably the irregular payment of their financial dues.
A security source confirmed that building an integrated central prison for the West Coast districts has become a fait accompli, and a necessity necessitated by the public interest of the people of these districts, and the establishment of security and stability .
The accumulation of cases and non-implementation of judgments has created a state of tension between citizens and the judicial authorities, which are unable to carry out their duties as required due to the deliberate neglect of the Yemeni government.
Local sources accused the Yemeni government of deliberately imposing a state of tension between the citizen and the judicial authorities by causing a backlog of cases and increasing pressure on the courts, by not appointing new judges in the vacant courts and divisions, as well as ignoring the completion of the requirements for the courts to carry out their tasks.
The sources pointed out that, "If an appeals court and a criminal division had been available and a single death sentence had been applied, the index of the wave of societal unrest would have declined and crime rates, which are escalating significantly in the absence of justice, would have decreased."
