Houthi militia increases the penalty for apostasy more severe than the rule of the Taliban
English - Tuesday 22 December 2020 الساعة 05:25 pm
Sanaa, NewsYemen, Exclusive:
The Houthi militia continues its plan to pass and approve amendments to some laws, in particular laws related to the judicial aspect, rulings and penalties, including Penal Code No. 12 of 1994 regarding crimes and penalties.
Sources in the Sana'a Parliament, which is under the control of the militias, told NewsYemen that the council postponed the announcement of its permit, which it was supposed to announce for a month, starting on Sunday, December 20, in order to complete the approval of the amendments submitted to some laws by the Houthi militias, including those that were submitted to the Law of Crimes and Punishments and it is expected to pass on Tuesday.
The sources added that this comes amid pressure exerted by the Houthi militias on the Parliament of Sana'a, referring to the meeting that brought together the leader of the Houthi militia and the head of the so-called political council Mahdi al-Mashat and the speaker of the Sana'a Parliament, Yahya al-Ra'i, on Monday, where the Saba Agency, which is under the control of the militias, published a news about the meeting and indicated in it Until the meeting (reviewing the laws that were submitted to the House of Representatives in order to amend them to keep pace with the judicial and administrative reforms), in reference to the amendments that have been approved in the Law of Attachments and those expected to be approved in the Law of Crimes and Penalties.
According to the sources, Al-Mashat asked the sponsor to use his influence and control to pass the amendments, especially after these amendments were widely criticized by parliamentarians, jurists and bar associations.
The southern parliamentarian, Abd al-Bari Daghaish, withdrew from the session on Sunday, December 20, in protest against the amendments submitted by the Houthi government, the latest of which was the addition of an article to the penal code that wronged the penalty for apostasy.
The amendments submitted by the Houthi militia include the imposition of new penalties and other harsherness within the Crimes and Penalties Law No. 12 of 1994, as the amendments include adding an article imposing a penalty of ten years imprisonment for everyone who offends a prophet and messengers, while the amendment included the intensification of the penalty imposed on the threshold of apostasy, as it was stipulated Article No. (259) of the Penal Code in force, provided that: (Whoever apostatizes from the religion of Islam shall be punished with death three times after the conspiracy and forfeiting it for thirty days, and it is considered apostasy with words or deeds that are inconsistent with the rules and pillars of Islam intentionally or persistently, and if the intention or intent is not proven and the perpetrator shows repentance, then there is no punishment.
Whereas the Houthi amendment included a strictness, as the new article states: (Whoever apostatizes from the religion of Islam shall be punished with death after completing three times and forsaking him for thirty days. The apostasy is considered to be a statement or deeds that are inconsistent with the rules and pillars of Islam intentionally or with insistence. Discrimination by imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year).
Parliamentarians, jurists and human rights activists criticized this aggravation and narrated it as a dedication to doctrinal thought and hardening that Yemen has not previously witnessed. The human rights defender Qais Al-Qaisi indicated that the danger of aggravation is the abolition of the consideration of the intention, which is the corner of the criminal intent (the moral element of the crime), as well as the abolition of the need for the apostate, unlike the most severe religious schools. They were strict about the issue of apostasy, even the Taliban did not do it and did not care about the same.
