Southern Movement Council condemns the arrest of its political bureau chief in Lahj

The Supreme Council of the Southern Revolutionary Movement strongly condemned the crime of arresting the head of its political bureau, Abdul-Wali Al-Subaihi, yesterday evening, by a military force affiliated with the so-called "Homeland Shield" in Lahj Governorate, in the south of the country.

The Council said in a statement that it is following with great concern and interest the arbitrary arrest crime carried out by the Homeland Shield Forces yesterday evening, Wednesday, by arresting the head of its political office in the Shatt area, in the Al-Mudharaba Directorate in Lahj, without any legal justification.

The Council considered Al-Subaihi's arrest a "blatant violation of human rights and international humanitarian law, and a serious targeting of the Council as an active political component in the southern arena, struggling peacefully for liberation, independence, and the restoration of the southern state with full sovereignty over its lands."

The Council pointed out that it has been subjected to many arbitrary kidnapping and arrest campaigns throughout the past period, which have affected a number of its leaders and members without any legal justification, stressing that "there are a number of them who are languishing in secret prisons and detention centers, some of whom have been kidnapped, arrested and disappeared for several years, without revealing their fate, which remains unknown."

The council held what it described as "the de facto military and security authorities fully responsible for the life and safety of the head of its political bureau, Abdul-Wali Al-Subaihi," calling on "free legal, social and political figures and local and international human rights organizations to denounce this crime and pressure these authorities to release him immediately in circumstances in which the south cannot tolerate more crises by tightening the noose on political freedoms."

In this regard, he stressed, "A democratic, pluralistic South that accommodates everyone is the best and safest option for a secure and stable southern state," according to the statement.