Recent English news media articles

Baha’i Man Sentenced to Public Execution in Yemen. His Crime? Practicing His Faith

The Wire - 14 January 2018

https://thewire.in/213536/bahai-man-sentenced-public-execution-yemen-crime-practicing-faith/

In December 2013, Hamed Kamal Muhammad bin Haydara disappeared into the maze that is Yemen’s National Security Bureau (NSB). Over the course of four years, he was tortured and denied a fair trial. His wife and daughters were not allowed to visit, nor did he get to meet legal counsel. Finally, on January 2, 2018, Haydara was sentenced to public execution by the specialised criminal court in Yemen’s capital Sana’a. He wasn’t even present in court.

Yemen: Rebel-run court sentences Baha’i man to death

Associated Press - 4 January 2018

https://www.apnews.com/dd19de254f5b49aa94a60f105044842f

SANAA, Yemen — A rebel-controlled Yemeni court has sentenced a local Baha’i man to death on charges of disseminating the beliefs of his faith and spying for Israel. - Associated Press

Houthi militias rule in favor of executing Baha’i detainee

Al-Arabiya - 2 January 2018

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2018/01/02/Houthis-rule-in-favor-of-executing-Baha-i-detainee-.html

Houthi militia in Yemen have sentenced detainee Hammed bin Haidara to death on the [basis] of his Baha'i beliefs and decided to shut down all Baha'i quarters in the country. The judgment issued by the Houthi-controlled Criminal Court in Sanaa also confiscated the funds of Hammed bin Haidara, and shut all Baha’i centers in the country.

“Yemen's Baha'is face a 'pattern of persecution', warns Amnesty International”

The Telegraph – 6 May 2017

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/06/yemens-bahais-face-pattern-persecution-warns-amnesty-international/(link is external)

Campaigners have called on Yemen’s Houthi rebels to stop a “pattern of persecution” against one of the war-torn country’s religious minorities, whose adherents they claim risk immediate arrest.

Persistent persecution of Bahá’í in Yemen ‘unacceptable,’ and must stop, says UN expert

UN News Centre -- 22 May 2017
 
 
In Yemen, Bahá’ís are under pressure to recant their faith, according to a United Nations rights expert, noting that in April, the Public Prosecutor reportedly summoned by phone at least 30 members of the community to appear in court, and de facto authorities in Sana’a ordered the arrest of at least 25 more.