Tens of thousands of Yemenis protested in Sanaa Tuesday against the immunity granted to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, as they commemorated a deadly attack by his forces last year against an anti-regime demonstration. "No immunity, no guarantee... Saleh and his aides must be brought to justice," chanted the protesters who marched from the capital's university towards the city centre, an AFP correspondent reported.
On this day last year, Yemeni security forces opened fire on anti-Saleh demonstrators in Sanaa, killing 35 people and wounding hundreds more. The protesters came under fire after they had left Sanaa's Change Square, epicentre of the protests, and marched towards Al-Zubairi road in central Sanaa. On Tuesday demonstrators marched on the same route as they vowed to bring Saleh, whom they hold responsible for the killings, to justice.
"Whether or not he has signed, we will not forget," they shouted, referring to a power transfer deal Saleh signed last year which offered him and his aides immunity from prosecution in return for his stepping down. The deal, which Saleh had repeatedly stalled, came after a year-long uprising in which hundreds were killed nation-wide by forces loyal to the ousted strongman who had ruled Yemen for 33 years. In February, he officially stepped down handing power over to his then deputy, President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi. Youth groups have rejected the deal insisting that Saleh and his former aides must be stripped of the immunity.
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