A Yemeni policeman executes Yahia al-Raghwa

YEMEN: CHILD KILLER EXECUTED IN PUBLIC

July 6, 2009: a Yemeni man was executed by firing squad in a public square after being convicted of raping and murdering a boy. Yahia al-Raghwa, 22, was found guilty of raping and murdering Hamdi Abdullah, 11, at his barber shop in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in December 2008. He was shot by a firing squad in a public square in the capital, in the presence of hundreds of people including the family of the victim.
His death brings the number of executions in the country this year to nine.
In his testimonies the suspect admitted that he raped the victim and then murdered him after he cried and threatened he would tell his dad.
The preliminary court sentenced the murderer to death and the appeals court approved the sentence.
It was decided to throw the suspect from a roof of a high building in Sana’a city according to the Islamic Sharia that orders throwing a person that is charged of homosexual crime from a tall building.  However the court changed its ruling and ordered his execution the victim by firing squad in a public place in charge of murdering a child. (Sources: Telegraph.co.uk, yobserver.com, Ap, 07/07/2009)