The Yemen Embassy clarified that Malayali nurse Nimisha Priya's death sentence was approved by Houthi leader Mehdi Al-Mashat, not Yemeni President Rashad Al-Alimi. The crime occurred in Houthi-controlled northern Yemen, and Iran offers mediation
Published Jan 11, 2025 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jan 18, 2025 | 3:00 PM
In light of this latest update, South First spoke with Nimisha Priya’s lawyer, Advocate Subhash Chandran, who opened up about the legal complexities and unresolved issues surrounding the case.
The Yemeni Embassy recently clarified that Malayali nurse Nimisha Priya was sentenced to death not through the procedure accepted in law in Yemen, but after the approval of Mehdi Al-Mashat, the leader of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, considered a rebel president in the conflict ridden region.
Nimisha Priya’s death sentence was not approved by Yemeni President Rashad Al-Alimi.
The crime of murder of her business partner for which Priya was convicted took place in northern Yemen, an area under Houthi control.
She is being held in a prison located within that region.
Iran, a supporter of the Houthi faction, has expressed readiness to mediate discussions in this case.
South First spoke with the lawyer representing Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, Subhash Chandran, who explained the legal complexities and unresolved issues in this case.
Q: How did you get involved with the Nimisha Priya case?
A: I have been involved with the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council since 2021. This organisation was formed in 2020 by eminent Malayali NRIs and Loka Kerala members.
The verdict of the trial court in the Nimisha Priya matter was announced in 2020, as reported by some Malayalam newspapers.
She was arrested by the Yemeni police in 2017, but none of the Indians were aware of her arrest or trial. When she was sentenced to death, the media reported it. That was when the council was formed, and they approached me in 2021.
Q: We know of the solidarity shown with Nimisha Priya. Even so, there are questions about whether she is indeed a victim if she has murdered a man, especially since she is a foreigner there, and has murdered a local resident.
A: We refer to Nimisha Priya as a victim of war. When she was arrested in 2017, in connection with the alleged offense, she did not receive proper legal defense. There were internal conflicts in Yemen at that time. She was arrested by the local Yemeni police, placed in jail, and put on trial.
Initially, there was no lawyer to represent her. Eventually, the court appointed a local lawyer, but this was not sufficient for defending someone in a murder trial. The lawyer provided was part of a free aid programme.
Nimisha had to sign many documents in Arabic, a language she could speak but not read or write.
There were no translators. The confessional documents were in Arabic, which ultimately led to her receiving a death sentence.
This is why we consider her a victim of war or internal conflict.
There is no provision to reopen her case in Yemen’s legal system. When I spoke to Nimisha about this, she told me that she did not intend to murder the victim. She was simply trying to retrieve her passport, which had been confiscated by him.
Her plan was to sedate him and escape. After enduring numerous forms of torture, I will not elaborate as we are in the negotiation stage. We do not want to blame the victim.
However, it is important to note that she suffered greatly. Unfortunately, despite her intentions to only sedate him, the victim passed away. It was an accident, and there was no intention to kill him.
After Save Nimisha Priya International Council was formed, we pressured the Government of India and approached the Delhi High Court. Only then did the Embassy appoint a local lawyer to defend her and file an appeal.
Q: Only days ago, we learned that Nimisha Priya’s death sentence was not approved by the president of Yemen. The approval of the sentence came from the rebel president. Is there any direct channel of communication with the Houthis?
A: We are all facing significant challenges. The Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council comprises prominent public figures like Kurien Joseph (retired judge of the Indian Supreme Court) and MA Yusuff Ali, even they face challenges.
Since 2016, there is ban on travel and financial transactions with Yemen in India; there is no Indian diaspora there, and there are no known activists. In any other situation, we could have contacted the family for negotiations, but in this case we have to rely on a few coordinators.
The coordinator asked for $40,000 as a pre-negotiation fee. While Islamic scholars confirmed there is no such clause, the local lawyer and Samuel Jerome (coordinator) insisted it was necessary to convene tribal leaders in Yemen. They demanded payment in two installments.
We sent Nimisha’s mother to Yemen and paid the first $20,000, but updates were not forthcoming.
After 4-5 months, we were pressured to pay the second installment.
Conflicts arose within the Action Council, as the crowd-funding raised was the community’s responsibility, and we had no updates.
The second installment was sent in December, despite the lack of consensus from the Action Council heads.
On 27 December, the payment reached, but Samuel Jerome left the WhatsApp group on 28 December.
On 30 December, he informed the media that the Yemeni president had approved Nimisha Priya’s death sentence. That claim was later denied by the Yemen embassy.
Communication lapses and lack of updates from Yemen are ongoing.
Q: You said there is a financial transaction ban; how was the money sent?
A: Initially, the local lawyer was demanding that we send money to his personal account. We created an account in India for collecting crowd-funding. The Nimisha Priya Action Council has a bank account in Palakkad district, but we did not have an account in Yemen.
We denied his request because we are accountable to the general public.
Then, we requested the Indian embassy and informed them of these issues.
After a long struggle, the embassy said they would only hand over the money but would not be responsible for anything else.
Q: Nimisha Priya was brave enough to set up a hospital in Yemen along with her husband, and Thalal was their family friend. They successfully set up the hospital. Then what happened? Why did her husband and child return to India? Why did she stay on without them?
A: I spoke to Nimisha about this. She is like any other migrant who went abroad with many ambitions. She went to Yemen in 2011 or 2012. Initially, she worked in a private hospital. Then she realised the opportunities to set up her own clinic. In 2014, she married Tomy and took him to Yemen. They lived there, and a baby girl was born.
The couple decided to set up a clinic, but according to Yemeni law, a local sponsor was required.
They found Talal Abdo Mahdi, who agreed to help.
All of them came to Kerala, including Mr. Talal, and stayed here for about a month for their daughter’s baptism.
After that, Nimisha and Talal went back to Yemen, with the plan that Tomy and their daughter would join them later.
Unfortunately, in the meantime, civil war started. Travel bans were imposed. Her husband and daughter could not return to Yemen.
Nimisha and Talal started the clinic as planned. However, Talal soon realised that Tomy would not be coming back soon. Gradually, financial exploitation began, with Talal taking the profits and erasing them. Slowly, this turned into a form of torture as well.
Nimisha was left alone, as most of the Indians had already left the country, and there was no Indian diaspora for support.
She complained to the Yemeni police, and Talal was arrested.
However, he made false allegations against her, and she was also arrested and put in jail.
The torture she endured crossed limits, and she decided to get her passport and escape. All of this led to the unfortunate incident.
Q: Was the dispute between Talal and Nimisha Priya only over financial benefits from the clinic?
A: I don’t want to go into these details at this point because we are currently trying to negotiate with the victim’s family. I don’t want to blame him or defame him anymore.
However, there was serious torture that Nimisha Priya faced. I cannot say more, for it might affect the negotiation.
Q: The Action Council has paid the pre-negotiation fee of $40,000; why cannot Talal’s family now begin negotiation?
A: We are also raising the same question. The local lawyer and Samuel Jerome said that after paying the $40,000 as a pre-negotiation fee, they would convince the tribal leaders first.
Then the tribal leaders would bring Talal’s family to the negotiation table.
This was the promise from the local lawyer and Samuel Jerome. We believed that, and paid the amount. But we have received no updates.
Q: What is the latest on Samuel Jerome?
A: As I mentioned, after leaving the WhatsApp group, he discontinued all communication with Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council.
Now, he speaks with the media when there are developments. We don’t know what is actually happening there. We are repeatedly requesting the Indian Embassy and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to intervene.
Yemen is an exceptional country, unlike any other, as the group ruling there is not recognised by the UN or any other country.
I personally tried to contact Amnesty International, the Red Cross, and international organisations for migrants, but they all said they don’t have a presence in Yemen, and could not help.
The only entity that can help is the Government of India, which can intervene through diplomatic channels.
India may not have good relations with the Houthis, but India has a good relationship with Iran. Iran supports the Houthis’ rule.
When diplomats from Iran visited Delhi, the media asked questions about the Nimisha Priya case. They said they are ready to help. The MEA and the Government of India should use this opportunity to take action and bring the victim’s family to the negotiating table.
We, the Action Council, have made it clear many times that we do not want a single penny from the government.
We are ready to raise the money demanded as blood money by the victim’s family through crowd-funding. However, we are now in a position where we cannot directly reach the victim’s family. We need strong support from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Q: What response did you get from MEA?
A: We approached the MEA for travel permission and legal support, but the response from the MEA was negative. When we approached them for travel permission for Nimisha’s mother, they denied permission.
We had to file multiple petitions in the Delhi High Court in 2022.
After that, they said they would extend legal support and appointed a local lawyer to file the appeal in Yemen.
In 2023, we again requested travel permission, but they opposed the petition.
The Delhi High Court allowed the travel permission, and it was only through the Court’s direction that Nimisha Priya’s mother was able to travel.
In recent developments, we have sent many emails to them, but they have not replied to a single one.
The only help the MEA provided so far was transferring the funds.
In Qatar, for example, seven sailors were sentenced to death, and the Indian government intervened to get a pardon, saving their lives.
This could have been done here as well. A life can be saved, with intervention from the Indian government.
This is a case involving a common, ordinary Indian NRI. The government response has not been positive.
Q: In Sharia law, it is possible to save a murderer if the victim’s family pardons them. We also have the positive example of Abdul Rahim, set to be freed from a Saudi jail soon. If Nimisha Priya’s victim’s family does not pardon her, what are we looking at?
A: All legal options are now exhausted. We filed an appeal in the first appellate court, which was partly rejected; but we were granted the possibility of blood money, which the trial court had not offered. This was reported by Samuel Jerome and the local lawyer.
From the beginning, we requested the local lawyer and Samuel Jerome to share the judgment papers, but they claimed it was in Arabic.
We agreed to translate it and requested the documents, offering to pay $2,000 for the translation.
Despite paying this in 2021 or 2022, we still have not received the documents.
The coordinators from Yemen have not provided any updates to the Nimisha Priya International Action Council, and we continue to be asked for large sums for copies and pre-negotiation fees, with no progress.
Back to your question: Under Sharia law, if the victim’s family is willing to accept blood money and pardon the accused, the accused’s life can be saved.
In Nimisha’s case, this option has not been exhausted yet.
The decision and the amount of blood money are entirely up to the victim’s family. It could be as little as a single Yemeni riyal or a larger sum.
Q: Are you in touch with Nimisha Priya’s mother, Premakumari, who is in Yemen for the past eight months?
A: We filed a petition in the Delhi High Court for travel permission. The court asked with whom she would travel, considering safety concerns. We informed them about Samuel Jerome, provided his details and consent, and sent her in April 2024.
She has been there for over eight months, staying in touch with the Nimisha Priya Action Council and me. However, Samuel has gradually restricted her from directly contacting us.
As Nimisha’s mother, she is determined to save her daughter and feels entirely dependent on Samuel. Despite repeated requests from the Action Council over the past three months, he has not sent her back.
Her prolonged stay serves no purpose, her health is deteriorating, and she wishes to meet her daughter. Although she has met Nimisha twice, negotiations must happen through the embassy or diplomatic channels. We don’t understand why Samuel is delaying her return.
Q: Is Nimisha Priya’s daughter aware of this chaos?
A: Yes, she is. I met her during a television show with Sreekandan Nair, along with Nimisha’s mother and husband. I spoke to her. She is now 11 years old, aware of the case, follows news updates, and remains hopeful.
We urge the Indian government and the MEA to intervene and bring the victim’s family to the negotiation table.
We do not seek financial support from the government and are prepared to raise funds through crowd-funding. Given the current political situation, we request the GoI to act through diplomatic channels to resolve this matter.
(Edited by Rosamma Thomas).
