The Yemeni parliament has unanimously approved a law giving the country’s outgoing president immunity from prosecution in return for his stepping down under a Gulf-brokered transition deal.
The law, adopted on Saturday, gives Ali Abdullah Saleh "complete" immunity and also offers partial protection from legal action to his aides.
The transitional government of national unity, which is led by the parliamentary opposition, had submitted eleventh-hour amendments on Friday, sharply reducing the scope of the amnesty offered to Saleh's lieutenants following a public outcry.
The immunity, which was a crucial element of the hard-won Gulf Arab deal that Saleh signed in November, had been condemned by US-based Human Rights Watch as a "license to kill" and criticized by protesters and the UN.
Rights groups say hundreds of protesters were killed by security forces since the uprising began in February 2011, which was punctuated by bursts of street fighting between Saleh loyalists and their foes.
The immunity would cover the 33-year period of Saleh's presidency and could not be cancelled or appealed against.
It also shields his aides from prosecution over "politically motivated" crimes committed whilst conducting official duties, except those considered "terrorist acts".
The latest development came a day after post-prayer protests in the southern city of Taiz broke out against the immunity law. Taiz is considered the second most important protest city after Sanaa.
PHOTO CAPTION
Members of Yemen's parliament raise their hands to vote on the immunity law for Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh at the House of Representatives in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012.
Al-Jazeera