KSA, Yemen sign pact on exchange of prisoners

Saudi Arabia and Yemen have signed an agreement to extradite their countries’ prisoners to serve part of their prison terms in home countries.
The Ministry of Interior and the Yemeni Ministry of Justice will be responsible for implementing the agreement.
The agreement also stipulates that the two countries notify one another of judicial rulings involving their citizens, including prison sentences.
Prisoners will be transferred depending on whether the offenses for which they are being held constitute a crime in both countries.
In addition, both countries will be obliged to approve prisoner transfer requests for the ruling to be binding.
Defendants must also agree to their own transfer, either in writing or through the consent of legal representatives or relatives, and should have to serve at least six months in order to be eligible for extradition.
Extradition requests can be denied if the transfer is considered high-risk or if the facts within the case had been proven in the same country the conviction was announced.
Prisoners can also be denied transfer if they have failed to pay off fines.
The new agreement has no time limit and both countries can request extra information or documentation related to the transfer at any time.
In addition, defendants must be citizens of either country at the time they filed their petitions for transfer.
The two sides will also be obliged to prove that detainees are, in fact, nationals of their countries.
The authorities of both countries will be legally bound to ensure that inmates serve the remainder of their prison terms without amending the duration or any other clause in the original rulings.
Authorities will also be obliged to abide by the maximum time limit set for implementing convictions.
The country receiving the convicts can issue a private or public amnesty for these prisoners only on consent from the country where the conviction was announced.
Neither countries can call for a retrial once the prisoners arrive home.