Convict in the sabotage case recants confession

Before a Yemeni court, the fifth convict in the sabotage case recanted his previous confessions stating that they were obtained under torture.

The confessions of Amr Bhamdon, which he wrote himself, include giving training on using arms, secret communications decoding, and joining a clandestine movements that are active outside Yemen.

Bhamdon pleaded innocent before the court and refused to talk about the accusations. Bhamdon, a former soldier from a communications unit in the Yemeni army, refused to answer the prosecutor's questions regarding the nature of his work in the army as he did not want to disclose military secrets.

The magistrate of the court Fahim Abdalla asked the prosecutor to submit medical reports stating the results of the convicts' medical examinations before the judicial recess during the month of Ramadan.

The convicts had submitted complaints to the magistrate in which they said that they had been subjected to torture in order to force confessions. Members of the defence team noted signs of physical torture on the bodies of the convicts.