almotamar.net - The Specialised Criminal Court in Yemen decided death sentence against Hamad Ali Al-Dhahouk and Abdulaziz Al-Hatbani accused of contacting a foreign country. The verdict on Saturday issued by the court chaired by Judge Muhsin Alwan contained holding the two defendants the criminal responsibility for the illegal actions they had made that would damage Yemen's political and diplomatic position and its foreign relations, while the two defendants objected the verdict and appealed it.

The court has held its first sitting for the trial of the two defendants on 10 July last year when the prosecution accused the first defendant Hamad al-Dhahouk of conducting calls with an Arab country and offering misleading information on Yemen and its diplomatic and political position.

The prosecution mentioned that the first defendants sought on 7 March 2007 via contacting one of the staffers at the Egyptian embassy in Sana'a with an illegal purpose and offering misleading and false information on Arab countries, namely Saudi Arabia and Kuwait claiming financing and training of terrorist elements in Yemen and to be sent to the country with whose embassy the defendant contacted and alleged the aim was carrying out terrorist acts violating the security and hitting the tourist sector in it. The defendant gave that embassy official a document on the information and asked an amount of money for them and that led to harming the Yemen's political and diplomatic position and its relations with other countries, a matter that is punishable by the law.