The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate condemns the kidnapping of journalist "Fahd Al-Arhabi" by Houthi militias in Amran

The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate condemned, on Saturday, the kidnapping of journalist Fahd Al-Arhabi by the Security and Intelligence Service affiliated with the Houthi militia in Amran Governorate, northern Yemen.

The union said in a statement that it "received a report from the relatives of journalist Fahd Al-Arhabi stating that the colleague was arrested by the Security and Intelligence Service in Amran last Wednesday, on the background of a case published earlier about the seizure of lands belonging to the Amran Cement Factory."

The statement added that colleague Al-Arhabi "had informed the union last January that the security forces affiliated with the Houthis had reopened the case file and were seeking to pin charges against him on the background of the same case for which he was arrested last year for more than two months and was released on bail."

The Journalists Syndicate renewed its position rejecting treating journalists as easy targets or turning their journalistic mission of publishing into a crime in an arbitrary step that violates the constitution, the Yemeni press law, and the law on the right to access information.

The union called on the de facto authority in Amran to quickly release journalist Fahd Al-Arhabi and stop fabricating false charges against him, calling on all organizations concerned with freedom of opinion and expression to stand in solidarity with Al-Arhabi and pressure for his release and to provide him with protection.

Last year, journalist Al-Arhabi was kidnapped and disappeared for more than two months by the Houthi militia, after he was dismissed from his job as a media official at the Amran Cement Factory and all his financial dues were suspended, due to his defense and refusal to seize the factory’s clay quarries in Sana’a Governorate.

Journalist Fahd Al-Arhabi arrested in Amran.

▪️ According to sources close to Al-Arhabi, he was arrested and disappeared two days ago by the Houthi security and intelligence service in Amran Governorate.

▪️ Journalist Al-Arhabi was arrested for 75 days by the Houthis in Amran last year, and was subjected to torture at the time... pic.twitter.com/Pjx8UZrsWw

— Fares Alhemyari (@FaresALhemyari) August 23, 2024