Yemeni lawmaker on hunger strike

By Nasser Arrabyee/07/07/2010
A Yemeni member of parliament said Tuesday he would go on hunger strike until he dies if his demands are not met.

The independent MP, Ahmed Saif Hashed started his hunger strike inside the Yemeni Parliament on Sunday July 4th , 2010, for not allowing him to visit the prisons of intelligence and immigration and other prisons.

Hashed, who is a member of the rights and liberties committees in the House of Representatives, previously tried many times to visit the prisoners in the intelligence and immigration prisons, but he was not allowed, and sometimes ,he said, he was attacked by the soldiers at the gate of those prisons.

Now Hashed said that he wants the House of Representatives to summon the deputy prime minister for defense and security affairs, Rashad Al Alimi for pressing the authorities in charge to allow him get inside the prisons and meet the prisoners.

When he allowed to speak why he is on strike, he said he would go on strike until he dies if he is not allowed to get inside those prisoner as an MP and member of committee of rights and liberties.

The speaker of Parliament Yahya Al Rai, said wants only to be famous and he wants the journalists to focus on him.

Many members from the ruling party and independents supported Hashed and criticized the speaker Al Rai saying it is a constitutional right to question any official in the government.

The 55-year old Hashed asked on Tuesday for a doctor to come to the Parliament hall where he sits in for treating his diabetes.