Sultan Qaboos pardons detainees convicted of trying to topple the regime
Oman, Politics, 6/10/2005

A governmental source in Muscat said that Sultan Qaboos Bin Said on Thursday issued a pardon for 31 detainees who were sentenced over being members in a banned secret organization seeking to topple the ruling system in Oman and to found the "Imam's system" in the Sultanate.

According to the same source, Sultan Qaboos gave his instruction to release those prisoners upon his arrival at the airport, coming from Kuwait within a tour on the Gulf region. The source stressed that the families of the detainees were contacts to be notified on this matter.

The state security court in Oman issued imprisonment sentence for periods ranging between one to 20 years against 31 members of "a banned secret organization" convicted of preparing to topple the regime by force.

Judge Hilal Bin Hamad al-Bousaeidi, the chairman of the court, said that the sentences can not be appealed but the convicted person can ask for the pardon of Sultan Qaboos during a period not to exceed 30 days.

Hundreds of Omanis took the streets in a peaceful demonstration following al-Maghreb prayers on Wednesday in Muscat demanding a pardon for the 31 men.

The detained men denied their attempt to topple the government and they persisted that their aim is to enhance "Abadeyah sect" to which the ruler of the country and most of the Omani people affiliate. The "Imam's system", a tradition for the Abadeyah sect dating back to several centuries, places religious and political leadership in the hand of the Imam. This system of law was abrogated in Oman in 1959.

Previous Stories:
  Mubarak-Qaboos summit affirms legitimate rights of Palestinians   (5/10/2005)
  Qaboos arrives in Sharm el-Sheikh today   (5/7/2005)
  Imprisonment for Omanis convicted of trying to topple the regime   (5/3/2005)

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