The World - News from Dec. 13, 1987

A South Yemeni court sentenced deposed head of state Ali Nasser Hasani and 34 other people to death on charges of treason in a mass trial of 107 of his supporters. Nineteen of the 35 were sentenced in absentia. Most of the other defendants drew jail terms of 5 to 15 years. Hasani and many of his followers fled to Yemen after bloody clashes erupted in January, 1986, between factions of the ruling Marxist party. Among those sentenced were the former air force and navy chiefs and Mubarak Salem, formerly in charge of Hasani’s personal safety. The court’s ruling must be ratified by head of state Haider abu Bakr Attas.