from lala in sanaa, where events are breaking very quickly:
The parliament approved a state of emergency this morning, which means we basically have no rights (i am copy/pasting the translation of the law below, for your reference). We also have had almost no power throughout the past couple of days and very very short spills of internet, which i assume will go away completely as of tonight. The protestors have vowed to march towards the presidential palace this friday no matter how much blood is spilled. Another cool thing is the fact that the Presidential Guard and Special forces (pro-saleh) have taken over half the city, as the other half is taken over by the First Armed Division (pro-Mohsen) and things aren't looking too good...they seem to think they just own our town. My friends have already fled to their villages this morning, but my family and are are staying put since we really dont have a place to go and definitely unable to afford a move. I am gonna put the website thing on hold for now, and I will try to email you from work, as i am doing now, as often as possible.
Article (1) This law is called (The Emergency State Law)
Article (2) A State of Emergency may be declared in case of a war or a looming war, or when the public security and order in the territory of the Republic or in part of it is in danger because of disturbances or internal strife or natural disasters or a pandemic.
Article (3) A state of Emergency should be declared by a presidential decree, and shall contain the following:
- A statement indicating the reason to declare the state of emergency
- Define the area covered.
- Date of entry into force of the situation and its duration.
Article (4) The presidential decree on the State of Emergency should be referred to the Parliament within the seven days following its issuance, and if the Parliament is not in session the President of the Republic shall invite it to convene, but if the Parliament was dissolved, the dissolved Parliament should be invited to convene, and if the seven days deadline passes without referring the bill to the Parliament or without inviting the Parliament to convene, the State of Emergency should be ended by virtue of the Constitution.
Article (5) The State of Emergency ends when the period specified in the decree comes to an end, and this period may be extended only with the consent of the Parliament.
Article (6) This Law applies when every State of Emergency is declared without being bound by the provisions of the ordinary laws in effect.
Article (7) The National Defense Council is entrusted with the application of the provisions of this law, and after the approval of this law, the President of the Republic may issue written orders to take the following measures:
1. Impose restrictions on the freedom of people in meetings or moves or living or moves in places or at certain times, and the arrest of suspects or those deemed dangerous to the security and public order, and licensing to search people, places and means of transport without being bound by the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure or any other law, and ordering the use of as much force as necessary in the case of reluctance or resistance.
2. Schedule times to open and close public shops, as well as order the full closure of all these shops or some of them.
3. Monitor all types of correspondence and all various media outlets (print and broadcast) and theaters and the like, networks and multi-media information, communication and literature, brochures and all means of expression and advertising, ban, seize and confiscated them and close their premises and the places where they are being printed.
4.Temporarily takeover of any facility or any real estate, safeguard the companies and institutions and seize funds as well as postpone paying back debts and due or overdue obligations regarding the seized or safeguarded things.
5. Abolish licenses of firearms, ammunition, explosives, explosive materials or materials used in manufacturing any of these and ban manufacturing, importing, sale, purchasing, transferring, disposing, carrying or possessing them, and ordering their seizure and handed them over to concerned security authorities, and impose censorship or control of the places of their manufacture, supply, sale and storage.
6. Evacuate or isolate some areas and impose a curfew in these areas and close public roads or some of them and organize the means of transport and specify their moves in different regions.
7. Mandate persons to do any work or perform any service within their respective capacities.
8. Increase rates of daily working hours for workers in the public service units and facilities, both at central and local levels, or under any of them or within the unit or units of specific management.
Article (8) The National Defense Council may expand the circle of constraints and measures set forth in the preceding article, or apply them according to the nature of the situation that led to the declaration of a state of emergency and the circumstances surrounding it.
Article (9) The security forces carry out orders issued during the state of emergency, and the President may after the approval of the National Defense Council mandates the armed forces to implement those orders or some of them where warranted, and in this case, the officers of the armed forces at the rank determined by the order of reference have the authority to set records of the violations of those orders.
Article (10) Violators of this law and its provisions may be arrested immediately, and those arrested or detained should be informed about the reasons of their arrest or detention immediately, and they have the right to communicate or inform anyone of what has happened to him.
Article (11) The regular minutes about the offenses of the orders issued under this law are authoritative in evidence both before the judicial authorities or other authorities until proven otherwise, and every public employee in his/her area of specialty should help those responsible for those records and enable them to perform this task perfectly.
Article (12) Specialized courts look into specialized crimes, regardless of the status of the perpetrators or instigators and assailants, and the prosecution shall handle these cases before these courts.
Article (13) A person who is arrested or detained in other crimes provided for in Article (14) of this Act may appeal the warrant of arrest or detention upon the expiry of three months from the date of arrest or detention without release, and the appeal shall be done as a request to the specialized criminal court, and the court shall consider the appeal promptly, and those whose appeals are refused may request a new appeal after the passage of three months from the date of refusal, and the court may issue a provisional release of those arrested or detained.
Article (14) Those arrested or detained for crimes harmful to the national unity or the security of the State or which shall be determined by a decree from the President of the Republic after an approval of the national Defense Council may appeal the warrant of arrest or detention in a request that is exempt from fees and submitted to the court during its consideration of the case, and the decision of the court to provisionally release those arrested or detained in such crimes shall be effective only upon approval of the President of the Republic.
Article (15) A person whose property is under guardianship in accordance with the provisions (7 / 4) of this law, can present a free of charge appeal to the Specialized Criminal Court against the guardianship or against measures of implementing the guardianship. The case shall be between the body responsible for implementing the guardianship and the owner of the property. The court shall decide on the appeal, to uphold it or amend it. The court’s decision to cancel or amend the guardianship order shall be valid only after the president of the republic approves it. If the grievance is rejected, the owner of the property can re-appeal through four months from the date of rejection.
Article (16) all sentences by the Specialized Penal Court on violations of this law shall be applied only after the final ratification by the President of the Republic. The president can decide the following:
- Reduce the penalty or replace it with a light one.
- Cancel all or some of the penalties, original or supplementary or dependency.
- Stop the implementation of all or some of the penalties.
- Abolish the ruling with the conservation of the case.
- Refuse the ruling and allocate reasoned order to the Supreme Judicial Council to re-trial before three judges selected by the Council from members of the Supreme Court. If the re-trial results in an acquittal sentence, the sentence shall be ratified. In case of conviction, the President of the Republic shall be able to consider mercy and reduce the penalty as mentioned in the preceding paragraphs of this article.
Article (17) The provisions of the specialized criminal courts for crimes committed in violation of the provisions of this Law and orders issued pursuant thereto final only after ratification by the President, and the president, sentences are provided to him for ratification, shall decide the following:
- Commute sentences or replace them with lesser penalties.
- Cancel all or some of the sentences whether original, supplementary, or dependent.
- Halt the implementation of all or some of the sentences.
- Abolish verdicts with the conservation of the case.
- Refuse verdicts and refer them to the Supreme Judicial Council to re-trial before a jury of three judges selected by the Council from among the members of the Supreme Court, and if the sentence is issued after the trial judge acquittal shall be ratified in all cases and, and if convicted, it is permissible for the President of the Republic to replace these convictions with more lenient sentences.
Article (18) death penalty is excluded from the scope of powers of the President of the Republic set forth in the preceding article.
Article (19) Without prejudice to any severer penalty provided for in the laws in force, any person who violates orders issued by the President of the Republic in accordance with the provisions of this law, shall receive a penalty that should not exceed an imprisonment for ten years or a fine of (1.500.000), million and five hundred thousand riyals. In case the period of the penalty is not mentioned in the presidents’ command, the violator shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months and a fine not exceeding (250.000) two hundred and fifty thousand riyals or either penalty.
Article (20) after the approval of the National Defense Council, the President of the Republic can assign a representative to represent him in all or some of his powers under this law, whether at the level of the Republic or in a particular area or areas.
Article (21) The implementation of this law shall not breach the following:
- The rights and powers of commanders of the military forces in the military operations zone during the state of war.
- The rights and powers of security officers in the field when troops were attacked during armed confrontation or armed rebellion by outlaws.
Article (22) The Specialized Criminal Courts, after the end of the state of emergency, continue to consider the remaining cases in accordance with the provisions of this law, whether these cases had been referred to them or not, and these courts shall follow normal procedures when considering these issues.
Article (23) The provision of the previous article applies to the case decided to be re-tried by the President of the Republic under the provisions of this law.
Article (24) After the end of the state of emergency the President of the Republic may exercise all his powers established under this Act in respect of the provisions set out as follows:
- Sentences issued during the state of emergency which has had not yet ratified or those referred to him be he decided they be re-tried.
- Sentences in the cases referred to in Article (22) of this law.
Article (25) any power to authorize assigning orders issued to any public officer under this Act or orders issued pursuant thereto is added to the powers or its functions.
Article (26) All that contradicts the provisions of this law is cancelled.
Article (27) This law shall be brought into effect from the date of its issuance and shall be published in the Official Gazette.