Washington, D.C., January 15, 2025 — Yemen’s Houthi forces must release journalist Mohamed Al-Miyahi and the group’s non-state judicial system must drop its case against him, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday.
After more than three months of arbitrary detention, including one month of enforced disappearance, Al-Miyahi appeared before the Houthi’s Specialized Criminal Prosecution in Sana’a on January 13, where he was accused of “publishing articles against the state and its political regime.” His case was referred to the Houthi’s Press and Publications Prosecution and Court.
“Mohamed Al-Miyahi’s appearance before the Houthi’s non-state judicial system is yet another attempt by Houthi forces to legitimize his detention and their broader attacks on press freedom,” said Yeganeh Rezaian, CPJ’s interim Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “Al-Miyahi must be released and his abductors must be held to account.”
Al-Miyahi was arrested in September 2024 by security forces affiliated with the Houthi group and was not heard from for over a month. His arrest came amid a new wave of detentions by the Houthis in September targeting aid workers and critics of Houthi rule in Yemen.
Al-Miyahi is a well-known Yemeni journalist who has written for several media outlets, including the website of Yemeni TV channel Belqees. His last article for Belqees, published before his arrest, criticized the Houthi group’s governance in Yemen.
In a separate case, Yemeni journalist Ahmed Maher, who was arrested in August 2022 and sentenced to four years in prison in May 2024, was acquitted by the Aden-based Specialized Criminal Court of Appeal on December 25, 2024. Despite the acquittal, the Specialized Criminal Prosecution has refused to release him without a “commercial guarantee” from a guarantor—a condition his family is unable to fulfill. Under Yemeni law, a guarantor ensures a detainee’s court appearance and legal compliance through financial or personal commitment, with a commercial guarantor doing so via a legally registered business.
Both the Houthis and the Southern Transitional Council, the de facto authority in southern Yemen, have arbitrarily detained and subjected Yemeni journalists to enforced disappearance over the years.
CPJ emailed Houthi spokesperson Mohammad Abdulsalam for comment, but did not receive a reply.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.
Committee to Protect Journalists | Radio Free (2025-01-15T17:53:03+00:00) Yemeni journalist appears in Houthi court after 3-month disappearance. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2025/01/15/yemeni-journalist-appears-in-houthi-court-after-3-month-disappearance/
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