Trials and liquidations.. Houthi terrorism to silence the voice of Yemenis in the north
English - Monday 20 March 2023 الساعة 05:11 pm
Sana'a, NewsYemen, exclusive:
The Yemeni government has condemned the Houthi group's liquidation of an activist in the city of Ibb, in conjunction with the anticipation of a verdict by a court in Sana'a against four activists on social media.
On Sunday, local sources revealed the death of activist Hamdi Abdul Razzaq, nicknamed "Al-Mukhal", inside the security department of Ibb governorate, five months after his house was raided in the city of Ibb, due to his videos on social media criticizing the crimes of the Houthi militia.
While the security department of the Houthi group did not issue an explanation about this, activists close to the Houthi militia claimed that "Al-Muhkal" was killed while trying to escape, but activists from the governorate confirmed that he was liquidated by the militia after he was subjected to brutal torture at their hands.
The liquidation of "Al-Muhkal" by the Houthi militia was confirmed by the Yemeni government through the Minister of Information, Muammar Al-Eryani, who condemned the incident, stressing that it was not the first, and that hundreds of abductees and forcibly disappeared people met the same fate in militia detention centers, as a result of lethal psychological and physical torture, ill-treatment, and deprivation of normal care and the simplest of rights, he said.
The minister pointed out that this crime comes at a time when a number of activists in Houthi-controlled areas are still being tried in illegal courts with fabricated charges based on their opinions, calling on the international community to press for the release of all the abductees in the Houthi militia's detention centers, headed by journalists, media professionals and activists.
In this context, the Houthi group brought a number of accusations against 4 activists and celebrities on social media platforms, one day before they were due to be sentenced by a court in Sana'a, which is under the group's control, in an escalation that threatens to issue harsh sentences against them.
Ahmed Hajar, Mustafa Al-Moumri, Ahmed Allao, and Hammoud Al-Mesbahi have been subject to trial for weeks by the Criminal Court of First Instance in the capital Sana’a because of their appearance in video clips criticizing the corruption of the Houthi group. On Saturday, the court announced that the case had been reserved for pronouncement of the verdict tomorrow, Tuesday.
The court's postponement of the verdict in the case three times prompted the activists' lawyer, Wadah Qutaish, to warn in a post on Facebook against procrastination in the case, and sarcastically hinted at the possibility of pre-empting the Security and Intelligence Service of the Houthi group for the verdict hearing with allegations of new evidence against the activists.
It is also expected that he will be arrested.
What the lawyer alluded to, the Houthi group made serious accusations against the detained activists by a "security source", who claimed in a statement published by the Houthi "Saba" agency, on Sunday, about what he called the details of the case of disturbing public security and harming the public interest against Al-Moumri, Allao and Hajar, he claimed that it came in the context of the plan of the countries of aggression, in reference to the countries of the Arab coalition.
The Houthi escalation against the detained activists came despite the appearance of the activists' families in video clips during the past days appealing to the leader of the Houthi group and the group's leadership to release them on the occasion of the advent of the month of Ramadan.
Observers confirm that what activists object to on social media in areas controlled by the Houthi group, in terms of kidnappings and arrests, leading to trials and physical liquidations, reflects the extent and fear of the group of any societal movement against them, which pushes them to resort to a policy of intimidation and excessive repression towards any criticism directed against them
