NOOR SURIB

Yemen- Yemeni model Entisar Al-Hammadi was arrested along with her two colleagues, Yasmine and Yusra Al-Mokadam by the Houthi movement's forces in Sanaa while they were on their way to a photoshoot on 20 February. Amnesty International announced that she was physically and verbally abused by interrogators, subjected to racist insults, and forced to sign a document while blindfolded.

She was forced to sign a document while blindfolded

Entisar Al-Hammadi was forced by interrogators to accept all charges against her. She has been held in Sanaa prison for nine months on the charges of “committing an indecent act and drug possession”. The eighth hearing of the trial against her was postponed to August 22. But she couldn’t attend the ninth trial due to uprising in the Sanaa prison.

She was burned with a lit cigarette in prison

Our sources in Yemen told us, “During the hearing, the detainees said that they were subjected to torture, no food or water was given to them and they were burned with a lit cigarette for nine days, but the judge asked the lawyers to file a criminal complaint.”

Her lawyer receives threats

The sources told us that Entesar Al-Hammadi’s lawyer Khaled al-Kamal has received threats to not defend her and hasn’t been allowed to issue press statements about the case.

Noura Al-Jarawi, the head of the Association for the Protection of Abused Women and Survivors of Houthis' Prisons, told us that the Houthi authorities insist for the unlawful sentencing of Entesar Al-Hammadi.

What is happening in Houthi-controlled areas is terrifying, Lina Al-Hassani, president of the Akoun Foundation for Rights and Freedoms, said, “Women were detained in the street and taken to an unknown place. The moral charges against them, particularly against Entesar Al-Hammadi are violations of rights. The Houthis' control over the judiciary will not cover the reality of the violations. We demand the immediate release of Entesar Al-Hammadi and her friends.”