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Saturday, April 18, 2009

Followup on Yemen "blasphemer" case

I mentioned on Friday about a group of Yemenis who burned the house and two cars of a man they accused of tearing a Quran. (No one seems to be concerned about the fates of any Qurans that might have been burned up in his house.)

Apparently, some of the vigilantes who set the fire were detained by Yemen police.

And this makes many Yemenis angry:
The Parliament on Saturday formed a committee to investigate burning and destroying a house for a man charged by his neighbors of tearing the Holy Quran and disgracing it.

Some MPs condemned incapacity of security authorities to fight vice in the country and focusing only on cracking down protests against any wrong doing or for demanding rights confiscated by powerful figures.

Last Wednesday, tens of people destroyed a house of a man in al-Hasaba zone of the capital Sana’a accused of tearing the Holy Quran. Four men were arrested over the incident.

MPs, politicians and social figures have condemned the detention of citizens over setting fire to the house and demanded their release and bring the man to justice.
That's right - the politicians aren't upset over the burning of a man's house by a mob, but over the possibility that he might have really torn a Quran and the detention of members of the mob!

By the way, since yesterday, the rumors now have added that the man's 75-year old mother ran a brothel. Yesterday she merely was accused of planning to replace a mosque with a nightclub.