Yemen: Muslims accuse family of blasphemy, destroy house

A tiny local story out of Yemen:

Tens of bearded extremists burnt and devastated a house belongs to a citizen called Abdulmalik al-Mansour in al-Hasaba zone today morning.

The attackers accused al-Mansour and his mother of blasphemy. They hold a meeting near the victims house, got a fatwa to execute al-Mansour and his mother and destroy their house. At 5 hour morning the attackers came from al-Eman university and from other mosques in the capital to burn the house, two cars and a motorcycle belonging to al-Mansour before they brought some bulldozer and started devastating the three-storey house.

This has happened few months after the establishment of the vice and virtue committee. The attackers accused al-Mansour of tearing the Quran and walking on it in the mosque. They also accused his mother Makyah of threatening to change the mosque into a nightclub.

The government did not interfere until the attackers did the job burnt the cars , the house and the motorcycle and destroyed the house. By then the security authorities swarm the devastated house under cover. However they did not arrest the attackers they rather arrested al-Mansour, his mother, and children and rest of his family to put them all in the prison of the investigative police.

Relatives of al-Mansour denied that he torn the Koran pages at any time saying that he was a good Muslim and usually pray in the mosque. They also shed sarcasm over the story that his mother threatened to change the mosque into a night club. “There is no night clubs in the country and mother Makyah do not know what the meaning of a night club is, she is a good Muslim but she doesn’t like Salafayeen and that’s why they burnt her house,” Makeya’s relative said.

The attackers claimed they had called on Sheikh ab-Dulmajeed al-Zindani who gave them a fatwa to authorize them kill the family and devastate their house. How ever newsyemen.net website said the website called on Sheikh al-Zindani’s office which confirmed that the attackers had called on Sheikh al-Zindani but said that he did not issue such fatwa.

Last week Some extremists from the same university burgled on to top of a house in al-Khaniq zone north east of the capital where they destroyed satellite dish , stabbing and beating its owner and his son whom they accused of directing the dish to a European satellite to watch porn movies. The authorities arrested some of the attackers but later arrested the victims and put them into the investigative police prison.

It sure looks like Yemenis can do any crime they feel like and get off scot-free as long as they pretend it was done for religious reasons. Pretty nice if you have a grudge against someone - you can guarantee getting that person arrested.