SANAA
Thousands of Yemeni demonstrators on Friday demanded that former president Ali Abdullah Saleh's immunity from prosecution – granted in exchange for his relinquishing power in late 2011 – be lifted.
Gathering in Sanaa, protesters demanded that Saleh and his associates be investigated for their roles in the killing of at least 50 young anti-regime protesters on March 18, 2011 – known as the "Friday of Dignity" – in the wake of a popular uprising against Saleh's rule.
"I'm surprised at the seemingly willful failure of the government and [current president] Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to prosecute those involved in the killing of demonstrators," protester Mahmoud al-Hafizi told Anadolu Agency.
Saleh, who took office in 1990, agreed to step down in late 2011 following a Gulf-backed initiative that also called for the strongman to be granted immunity from prosecution.
Friday's demonstration was held in response to calls by the organizing committee of the Peaceful Popular Revolution in Yemen.
The group has been mobilizing against the current government for months to demand "retribution" for protesters slain during the uprising and the release of demonstrators detained in the months since.
Yemen has remained in a state of relative chaos since Saleh's ouster as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings, with the country still dogged by political divisions and an ongoing separatist insurgency.
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