Dubai, Oct 3 (IANS) A court in the US has overruled verdicts against two Yemenis accused of financing terrorism.
Khalid Al-Anesi, executive director of Yemeni human rights group HOOD, said that an appeal court in New York has overruled the verdicts against Muhammad Al-Moyad and his companion Muhammad Zayed, the state-run Saba news agency reported.
He added the duo are likely to be released within 14 days unless the US asks for a retrial.
Al-Moyad and Zayed were arrested in Germany in 2002 and extradited to the US. Between 2003 and 2005, the court in US found the two guilty of financing terrorism.
While Al-Moyad was sentenced to 75 years in prison, Zayed was given a 45-year jail term. Both were also fined $2 million each.
In November 2006, the appeal court withheld the case of the two without setting a date to rule on it.
Now, Al-Anesi said, his organisation has received information from the two detainees’ American lawyer Bob Well and human rights activist Fiena Foster confirming that the verdicts against the two men have been annulled.
He urged the Yemeni government to take urgent steps to free the two detainees in the US and close their file forever.