Geneva - Sam Organization for Rights and Liberties said that the Houthi group continues to detain businessman Hashim Abdullah Saleh Al-Hamdani (60 years old), and a number of his relatives, after their homes were raided 8 months ago by elements of the Security and Intelligence Service, on fabricated charges related to espionage with the foreign enemies and affiliation with elements of the former regime, and pressuring him to force him to waive his properties in an incident where no legal procedures were observed, which reflects the extent of the violations and extortion practiced by the group against citizens in the areas under its control.

The wife of the detainee's son told Sam that elements of the Security and Intelligence Service affiliated with the Houthi group arrested Hashim on November 8, 2023, while he was traveling through Sana'a airport to Jordan, on charges of espionage with the aggression and affiliation with the former regime, and detained him in one of their prisons in Sana'a.

She added that the group exerted pressure on the detainee in order to get him to waive a villa and land with an area of ​​1,000 bricks (located in Bani Matar) and a building in Atan in Sana'a, stressing that Hashim acquired these properties from the sweat of his brow and his work as a manager of the Ramada Hotel, and the Director of Public Relations at the Arab Bank, despite the Houthis claiming that these properties belong to the former regime's president, Ali Saleh.

The "son's wife" told the Sam organization that the Houthi group placed the detainee in solitary confinement in the prison of the Meteorological Service affiliated with the Security and Intelligence Service in the Al-Aenab neighborhood in Sana'a, and noted that the victim is subjected to psychological torture based on fabricated charges and lies, explaining that they obtained this information from the facebook page of "Mohammed" son of Judge Abdulwahab Qatran, who was with Al-Hamdani in the same detention.

She added: The victim suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure, in addition to that, he was only allowed to receive visits once before Ramadan and through a glass barrier, and he was not allowed to appoint a lawyer to plead for him before the judiciary.

Furthermore, the "son's wife" stated that an armed Houthi group (more than 50 masked people and 4 women) raided the home of Hashim Al-Hamdani again at the beginning of December 2023 at 8 am, suddenly without prior warning, and terrified the women and children, continuing: They thoroughly searched the house from 8 am to 3 pm, and confiscated our devices (phones, laptops, memory sticks), in addition to personal property and weapons.

She stated that the group did not stop there, as on December 16, 2023, they arrested "Amr", the son of Hashim Al-Hamdani, at 2 pm, while he was outside the house, explaining that the victim called them at 12 am and told them that [the Houthis] had taken him for simple procedures, but he has not been released until today. They also arrested Hashim's brothers (Muhammad, Ibrahim, and Osama) and his cousins (Muhammad and Khaled) and his colleague (Tariq), and his neighbor (Muhammad Al-Qadimi), and the son of his wife's sister (Munir), according to Salim.

She added: We visited Amr only twice during his detention, and we were only able to contact him three or four times, and during his detention, his wife gave birth and they did not allow him to visit or even make a call to check on her. He has a two-month-old daughter whom he has not seen or known, according to her.

The head of Sam Organization, Tawfiq Al-Humaidi, said that the practices of the Houthi group against businessman Hashim Al-Hamdani and his relatives represent a serious violation of fundamental human rights, including the right to freedom, the right to enable the accused to appoint a lawyer, the right to a fair trial, and the right to property and possession, which are guaranteed by local and international laws, considering that this comes within the framework of the plundering policy practiced by the group against businessmen and entrepreneurs, accompanied by extortion, arbitrary arrests, and torture in the prisons affiliated with them.

Sam Organization for Rights and Liberties affirms that what the Houthi authorities have done towards businessman Hashim Al-Hamdani represents serious violations and arbitrary measures that violate the applicable Yemeni laws. Article 48 of the Constitution states that "the state guarantees citizens their personal freedom and preserves their dignity and security, and the law defines the cases in which the freedom of the citizen is restricted, and no one's freedom may be restricted except by a ruling from a competent court." 

The Criminal Procedures Law also went in Article 7/1 to state that "arrests are not allowed except in relation to acts punishable by law and must be based on the law," which Article 11 of the same law reiterated, stating that "freedom is guaranteed and no citizen may be accused of committing a crime or have his freedom restricted except by order of the competent authorities in accordance with the provisions of this law."

Sam points out that the procedures for arresting Al-Hamdani and his relatives came in violation of the provisions of the Criminal Procedures Law, as Article 172 stipulates that "no person may be arrested or detained except by order of the Public Prosecution or the court and based on a legal justification." Article 173 also states that "those executing the arrest warrant are not allowed to enter or storm homes to search for the wanted person except in the presence of specific indicators and conditions," none of which were present in the case of the detainee Al-Hamdani.

The organization points out that the accusation does not justify the security authorities committing legal violations, and stresses that the storming of homes, raiding them, and tampering with their contents is an act that violates human rights and dignity, which the law has safeguarded in more than one article, including Article 12 of the Criminal Procedures Law, which stipulates that "homes, places of worship, and places of learning are inviolable, and they may not be monitored or searched except by a reasoned order from the Public Prosecution in accordance with the provisions of this law, and this must be based on a previous accusation directed against a person residing in the place to be searched of committing a crime punishable by imprisonment or of participating in its commission, or if there are strong indications that he possesses items related to the crime." Article 138 also states that "the search of homes is an act of investigation and may not be resorted to except by virtue of an order from the Public Prosecution based on an accusation directed against a person residing in the house to be searched of committing a crime punishable under the applicable Penal Code."

Sam Organization expresses its full solidarity with the detainees, and calls on the de facto Houthi authorities to immediately release them without condition, foremost among them "Hashim Al-Hamdani," to stop bargaining with him to waive his properties, and to return all the looted items. Sam also calls on the Houthi group to hold those involved in the case accountable and punish them.