Islah Party releases accused of killing of Iftihan Al-Mashahri in Taiz

TAIZ, Feb. 02 (YPA) – Human rights sources revealed a shocking decision to release “Mohammed Saeed Al-Mekhlafi, the main suspect in the murder of “Iftihan Al-Mashahri”, director of the hygiene fund in Taiz, which shook public opinion last September.

The sources said that the head of the first criminal division of the Taiz Court of Appeal, who belongs to the Islah Party, issued the decision individually without consultation with the members of the division, based on a guarantee described by observers as”flimsy”.

In controversial details, the sources linked the decision to the kinship relationship between Al-Mekhlafi and his brother, Hamoud Saeed Al-Mekhlafi, a leader in the Islah Party based in Turkey, noting that the measure represents a “dangerous precedent reflecting the penetration of party decisions of the judiciary” in areas controlled by pro-Saudi factions.

In response to the decision, the Public Prosecution filed a strongly worded objection, describing it as “a total and detailed violation of legal procedures, and a stab in the flank of justice,” while the release sparked a wave of anger in the human rights and civil society circles.

Yemeni activists accused prominent leaders in the Islah Party of pressure to protect the accused, stressing that the decision “aims to waste the right of the victim” who was brutally assassinated after refusing to pay “royalties” to military commanders affiliated with the so-called” Axis of Taiz”.

Al-Mashahri was killed in a terrible accident carried out by firing more than 30 bullets at her car in the center of Taiz, according to preliminary investigations that indicated the involvement of armed elements loyal to the Party.

AA