A Sanaa court on Saturday sentenced a 25-year-old Yemeni grocer to ten years in prison for lobbing two grenades at the US embassy in Sanaa in mid-March.
Samir Yahia Awadh, who pleaded not guilty to charges of "throwing two grenades against the wall of the embassy, endangering the lives of innocents and damaging the foreign relations of Yemen", broke into tears as judge Mohsen Alwan read out the verdict, the maximum penalty allowed under the law, according to AFP.
Prosecutor Said al-Samet alleged that Awadh had admitted "having planned the operation two months earlier," and having acted alone "in solidarity with the Palestinians."
However Awadh told the court the confession had been extracted under duress and his defense presented a medical report on his client's psychological condition, telling the court Awadh was mentally disturbed and suffered from schizophrenia.
Defense lawyer Fadl al-Riashi announced his client would launch an appeal.
"This is an unjust verdict because the accused suffers from psychological problems," he said.
The trial opened on May 7 and a fourth and final hearing took place on May 13.
No one was injured in the attack a day after US Vice President Dick Cheney visited Yemen. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
