Yahya Hussein Al-Raghwah

This is criminal justice, Yemen style. A man accused of raping and murdering an 11-year-old boy was paraded through his home town before being shot dead by an executioner. Hundreds of onlookers lined the streets to watch the gruesome scene, cheering and shouting abuse at Yehya Hussein al-Raghwah. The boy, Hamdi al-Kabas, had reportedly come into his shop for a haircut last December during the Muslim festival of Eid. After brutally attacking him, the barber cut his body into pieces and dumped them outside the capital Sana'a. He was given the death penalty by a Yemeni court a month later after apparently admitting his crime. Shocking images of his final moments were released following the execution yesterday. First he left the city's central prison, handcuffed and dressed in white robes. Fear was etched on his face, and he was surrounded by soldiers as he was led towards a ceremonial red carpet. He was allowed to say a final prayer, his shirt was then ripped open before he was laid face down. As a police official read out his sentence for the last time, a doctor oversaw his treatment and crowds, which appeared to include children, jeered and punched the air, some filming his final moment on their mobile phones. A soldier brandished his machine gun at the nape of the barber's neck, and within a split second it was all over. His death brought the number of executions in the country that year to nine. Yemen is one of 59 countries which retains the death penalty, and one of its most prolific users, according to Amnesty International. It is deployed for a variety of violent and non-violent crimes including apostasy and adultery. Last year Yemen executed 13 people, according to those Amnesty has verified. But as no official figures are released, the real toll could be far higher. All of those died by firing squad but in recent years there have been reports of stonings and beheadings. The deeply religious desert country has a poor human rights record and it is unclear if the barber had a fair trial. Under sharia law, which applies in Yemen, relatives of the victims of certain categories of murder have the power to pardon the offender in exchange for compensation, grant a pardon freely or request his or her execution.