Houthis push for abrupt court hearings in Sana’a, endangering Baha’is in Yemen

Houthis push for abrupt court hearings in Sana’a, endangering Baha’is in Yemen

Hamed bin Haydara has been detained since 2013
New York—31 December 2018

In recent days Houthi authorities have taken several disconcerting steps, further endangering the Bahá’ís in Yemen.

The Houthis have exerted pressure on officials to abruptly schedule an appeal court hearing for Mr. Hamed bin Haydara, who is presently detained in Sana’a, tomorrow, 1 January 2019, and they are accelerating efforts to issue a verdict in the ongoing religiously-motivated case of 24 other Bahá’ís, including five detained in Sana’a, and their friends.

These developments took place shortly after Houthis refused to include the above six prisoners of conscience in the UN-supervised prisoners exchange with the Yemeni government.

"We are extremely concerned for the safety of the Yemeni Baha'i community following these latest developments and sincerely hope that the judicial authorities in Sana'a will judge with fairness and clear Mr. Haydara of these false accusations," said Bani Dugal, Principal Representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.

Nearly a year has passed since Mr. Haydara appealed his death sentence, which was issued in January of this year in absentia. Furthermore, 24 Baha'is and their friends in Yemen have been falsely charged with espionage and apostasy—charges that can be met with the death penalty—following a series of sham trials in Sana'a this year. Their case is presided over by the same judge who handed the death sentence to Mr. Haydara.

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Arabic translation PDF.