NOOR SURIB

Yemen- Houthi court held a secret session on September 5 to discuss the trial opened against Yemeni model Intisar al-Hammadi and her colleagues Yasmine and Yusra Al-Mokadam, who have been held in the Sanaa Prison for seven months. According to our news agency’s sources, during the secret session, chaired by Judge Osama Abdel Aziz Al-Junaid, the family members, lawyers of the women, and representatives of human rights organizations were excluded from the courtroom.

Although the session was set to decide the defenses submitted by the defense lawyers, the judge did not rule about the submitted defenses and demanded the Public Prosecution to investigate the data on the women’s private mobile phones. According to our sources, some photos and videos from the mobile phone of Intisar Al-Hammadi and her friends were transferred to the prosecutor's computer.  The prosecutor accused women of using drugs after seeing smoking photos. “How do you understand it is a drug? From its smell?” Intisar al-Hammadi asked the prosecutor.

The prosecutor also showed the photos taken by one of the women with her fiancé as criminal evidence.

They are behind bars for seven months

Intisar al-Hammadi has been held in the Sanaa Prison for seven months. She appeared before the court twice in August. She 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. They are still behind bars despite campaigns demanding their release.