The Yemeni parliament postponed on Saturday the discussions over the report of codifying Islamic Sharia'a concerning the decree No. 12 of 1994 of crimes and punishment.

Thus, the report will be discussed after the parliament's annual vacation that lasts for two months and starts after two weeks.  

Postponing the discussion of the report comes after many parliament members refused it, claiming that it did not take its legitimacy before referring it to the committee for amendments. Further, the report doesn't follow the legal procedures and regulations of the council.

Other MPs stress that there should be enough time for reviewing any amendments before discussing or endorsing them.

MP Sakhr Al-Wajeeh criticized the parliament presidency board for referring the amendment to the concerned committee without being discussed by MPs, adding that the amendments are to be discussed according to the council's regulations and bylaws.

Regarding Virtue Protection Authority, MP Abdul Bari Dughaish noted that the amendments relating to the establishment of Virtue Authority will make a religious state within the state, continuing that this procedure is incompatible with the democracy Yemeni people seek.

From his part, head of the Socialist Party bloc Aidrous Al-Naqeeb pointed out that the amendments include articles from the law draft concerning the protection of the national unity.

The Islamic Sharia Codifying Committee reporter Abbas Al-Nahari strongly defended his committee's report, saying that we are Muslims, and our constitution states that the Islamic Sharia is the only source of legislation.

Al-Nahari expressed his surprise over the attitudes of some MPs hinting that he does not know whether the source of legalization has changed.

Head of the ruling party's bloc at parliament Sultan Al-Barakani expressed his opposition to the procedures through which the amendments underwent, pointing out that the amendment had to be discussed before being referred to the specialized committee.

The Committee of Islamic Sharia revealed that they refused to make any amendments presented by the government to the decree No. 12 of 1994 on crimes and punishments, adding that the government calls for new amendments to the decree advocating legal equality between men and women in blood money.

The committee's refusal is justified by the consensus of Muslims over the subject since the era of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

It also added a new text stating one-year imprisonment for an adult man seen in private with a female who is not his close relative. Further, the text stipulated that the woman shall be punished by the same term in case she goes out with that man at her will.

The committee did not change the texts relating to slandering the head of state where the punishment shall be a two-year term. The same applies when defaming a king or president of a foreign country. 

In addition to the capital punishment, the committee asked for an imprisonment term (between 5-15 years) for a person who causes harm to war preparations meant for defending the country. Further, the committee did not change the text that punishes a rapist whether male or female with a term of seven years. 

Likewise, the committee did not change the text that punishes a person who commits the crime of adultery with a three-year term.