ALEXANDRIA: A Houthi-controlled court on Sunday adjourned the trial of an abducted model and her colleague because a judge was absent, a legal source told Arab News.
During Sunday’s hearing, the judge was supposed to decide on whether to accept or reject the defense and legal arguments from the model’s lawyer.
“The women were brought to the court for trial, but unfortunately Judge Osama Al-Junaid did not come and the court decided to adjourn the trial to Sunday,” the lawyer said, referring to Entesar Al-Hammadi and her colleague.
The model’s defense attorney is demanding her release on bail.
Since her abduction from a Sanaa street in February, 20-year old Al-Hammadi has faced charges of violating Islamic dress codes, trading in drugs and being involved in prostitution.
She has denied all the charges and accused the Houthis of punishing her for refusing to work with them.
The Houthis refused her request and ignored international calls to free her, instead putting her in solitary confinement in a special ward for “prostitutes,” a move that pushed her into trying to take her own life.
The Houthis banned her lawyer Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal from speaking to local or international media outlets and also replaced a prosecutor who had ordered her release.
Citing the judge’s previous verdicts, lawyers following the case described him as a hardliner who might hand down a lengthy prison sentence for Al-Hammadi.
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Entesar Al-Hammadi has denied all the charges and accused the Houthis of punishing her for refusing to work with them.
“Judge Osama Al-Junaid is a hardliner and loyal to the Houthi militia. A very short time ago, he ordered a man’s hand to be cut off for stealing,” the legal source said.
In a separate case, the Houthi-run Supreme Court on Saturday overturned two sentences, including the death penalty, against Asmaa Al-Omeissy, a mother of two who was abducted by the militia on spying charges.
Her lawyer Abdul Majed Sabra told Arab News that the Supreme Court repealed two previous rulings by the Specialized Criminal Appeals Division after accepting his appeal and ordered the same court to urgently review the case.
Amnesty International said the Houthis had arrested Al-Omeissy at a checkpoint in Oct. 2016 and later accused her of colluding with the Arab coalition. In Sanaa, the Houthis summoned her father and subjected both of them to torture.
“Their arrest marked the beginning of a horrific ordeal including enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment, and death sentences following a grossly unfair trial,” the rights group said.
The court first sentenced Al-Omeissy to death but later reduced this to 15 years in prison.
Rights groups have condemned the Houthis for using judicial bodies under their control to punish their opponents, adding that the militia were not serious about releasing abducted women.
Majed Fadhail, deputy minister of human rights, said Sunday that the Houthis would not release the model and were using the courts to justify their actions against her.
“Those mock trials are illegal,” he told Arab News. “The Houthis are using the courts for political purposes.”
Her trial comes as the Houthis intensify their morality crackdown in areas under their control.
Residents told Arab News that the group has banned singers from weddings and outdoor gatherings and ordered people to replace songs with religious chants or folk songs known locally as zawamel.
Earlier this month, a checkpoint manned by the Houthis in the western province of Hodeidah detained Yemeni singer Fuad Al-Kibsi for eight hours and confiscated his belongings, criticizing him for violating their ban on singing.
