PANEL COURT SENTENCES IRANIAN TO DEATH; ELEVEN IRANIANS AND TWO PAKISTANIS
GET TWENTY FIVE YEARS IN JAIL

The specialized panel court sentenced last Saturday an Iranian to
death, and eleven other Iranians and two Pakistanis to 25 years in
prison for drug smuggling.

In the session presided over by Judge Muhsin Alwan, and in the
presence of the Attorney General representative, the court issued
the death sentence against Ayub Mohamed Hood.

The charges stated that the suspects were seized in Yemeni territorial
waters, smuggling a large quantity of hashish estimated at 3100
pounds(1500kg).

The verdict also added that there is a strong link between the
suspects and other drug dealers inside the country.

Twenty five years imprisonment sentence were given to Chakib Mohammad
Bakhsh, Othman Haider, Abu Bakar Mohmed, Ibrahim Eda Saidi, Ali Murad
Bloushi, Abdul Rahim Azizallah, Mohammad Murad Bakech, Ghulam Nabi
Salim Marjan, Radi Yusuf Hood, Khalid Jean Nizar, Mohamed Bakhsh, Musa
Bakhsh Hassan, and Abdel Wahed Murad Bakhsh.

The General Attorney's representative still believed that the verdict
was soft, and was demanding the execution of all the accused.

Suspects claimed that they had no relation with the matter of
smuggling hashish and other drugs, saying they are innocents. "We read
the Holy Quran and pray; we don't lie and this rule is unfair and
unjust," said Mohamed Ayub who was sentenced to death.

Meanwhile, governmental authorities burned last Wednesday one thousand
four hundred seventy-seven kilogram of drugs that were seized in
several governorates. It also seized over one million drug tablets
during the last four months alone.

From his part, Judge Radwan Al-Namer confirmed that more drug cases
still exist and their trials are underway. "There are ten drug and
hashish cases still ongoing in the specialized criminal court," he
concludes.