(Credit: online newspaper Al-Mash-had al-Yamani = Panorama of Yemen).
Ahmed Zwueiki was sentenced to capital punishment for fatally shooting the rapist of his mentally disabled sister, Fatima. The facts date back to 2015, the man, taking advantage of the family’s absence, entered the house and raped the girl. But the court had proved very lenient with Abdallah Al-Ashoul, who had been sentenced to only 6 months in prison (Sharia law was not applied either, because the man had declared that he was available to marry the victim). A sentence so small that it shocked the girl’s family.
I am not satisfied with his past atrocities, when the man was freed again in 2020, he continued to harass the woman and once he entered the house with his mother and younger brother present, he publicly began to molest her in front of her relatives, who in his eyes were too weak to face him, in the absence of his father and older brothers, all at work.
At that point Ahmed pulled out his father’s rifle and ordered the intruder out of the house, but Abdallah pulled out a gun. A shootout ensued. The boy was faster and the man fell to the ground dead. The dynamics of the clash is unclear. the family claims the attacker was hit by a ricocheted bullet, in any case Al-Ashoul’s gun had also fired and, in fact, Ahmed’s lawyer claimed self-defense, but the judge, it is not known for what reasons, issued a death sentence against the boy. An absurd judicial act disrespectful of Islamic law itself. The lawyer is sure of succeeding in the appeal process, but many people on social media protest and ask for the judge’s resignation.
A story of double denial of rights: those of the raped woman and the minor boy unjustly sentenced to death.
(Farid Adly collaborated)
