Rally in Yemen renews call for Saleh’s trial

Thousands of people have staged a demonstration in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, to renew calls for the trial of ousted dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh and his family.

The protesters took to the streets of the capital on Monday, demanding that Saleh and members of his family stand trial for the crimes they committed during the country’s popular uprising.

The demonstrators said that Saleh’s ouster from power was not enough and that he should be brought to justice.

They also denounced the United States and Saudi Arabia for their continuous interference in Yemen’s internal affairs. They also slammed the mistreatment of Yemen’s migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.

In another demonstration also on Monday, activists and the relatives of around 90 detainees held in the Guantanamo prison staged a protest rally outside the US embassy in Sana’a and demanded the release of the inmates after over a decade of detention.

Saleh, who ruled Yemen for 33 years, stepped down in February 2012 under a US-backed power transfer deal in return for immunity, after a year of mass street demonstrations demanding his ouster.

His vice president, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, who is a UK-trained marshal, replaced him on February 25, 2012 following a single-candidate presidential election backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Yemenis continue to hold demonstrations to call for the political restructuring of the country and to demand the dismissal of remnants of Saleh’s regime from their government posts.