TRIPOLI: A Libyan armed group said Saturday it had closed a comic book convention in Tripoli and detained the organizers for an “attack on morals and modesty” in the strife-ridden country.
Hundreds of young Libyans on Friday flocked to the opening of the city’s second Comic Con festival, including some dressed up as their favorite heros from American comic books and Japanese manga.
Later in the day members from the Deterrence Force — a group of mainly conservative Islamists that acts as the police for the UN-backed government — entered the venue, seized computers and arrested organizers, a participant said.
The group said those responsible for the event would be handed over “to prosecutors for an attack on morals and modesty” as they looked to prey on youths in the city.
“This sort of festival imported from abroad exploits the weakness in their religious faith and their fascination with foreign cultures,” said a statement posted on Facebook.
Comic Con began in 1970 as a convention of a few dozen fans who swapped superhero magazines in the US.
The event has grown in size and spread around the world, including to Saudi Arabia.
Libya has been wracked by conflict since the fall of dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011 and the country has two rival governments: a United Nations-backed one in the west and a rival administration backed by a military strongman in the east.
Hundreds of different militia groups have stepped in to impose their authority in the security vacuum.
Armed group detains Libya Comic Con organizers for ‘attack on morals’
Armed group detains Libya Comic Con organizers for ‘attack on morals’
Lawyers in Sanaa face Houthi repression: report
- Claims of arbitrary arrests and detentions, direct threats
- 159 Houthi violations in 2025, 88 in 2024, 135 in 2023
RIYADH: In Yemen, the Houthis are attacking lawyers, raising widespread concerns about the rule of law and state of the justice system, Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Tuesday.
“Recent reports from local human rights organizations have revealed a recurring pattern of systematic restrictions on the practice of (the) law profession, including arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions, and direct threats,” according to Arab News’ sister publication.
The publication added that the situation “in Sanaa and other Houthi-controlled cities no longer provides a professional environment for lawyers who themselves are now subject to questioning or targeted for defending their clients, especially in cases of a political or human rights nature.”
The Daoo Foundation for Rights and Development organization have reported more than 382 Houthi violations against lawyers in Sanaa from January 2023 to December 2025.
These include arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention without legal justification, threats of murder and assault, preventing them from practicing law, and restrictions on the right to defense in cases of a political or human rights nature.
The report stated that there were 159 Houthi violations against lawyers in 2025, 88 in 2024 and 135 in 2023, which was described as a “systematic pattern.”
Local and international human rights organizations have called for urgent intervention to protect the legal practitioners in Yemen.
“Human rights activists believe that protecting lawyers is a prerequisite for maintaining any future reform or political path because the absence of an independent defense means the absence of justice itself,” Asharq Al-Awsat reported.
