Houthi militia detains lawyer in Sana'a during his plea, union condemns incident and demands accountability of those responsible

Yesterday, Tuesday, the Houthi militia in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, detained a lawyer while he was doing his job, according to a statement by the Yemeni Bar Association, which condemned the incident and demanded that those responsible be held accountable.

The Sana'a Bar Association said in a statement published on its Facebook page that the Public Funds Investigations Department - affiliated with the Houthis in Sana'a - arbitrarily detained yesterday, Tuesday (lawyer Dr. Abdo Noman Saleh Al-Sharif), while he was representing his client, the Yemeni Omani Telecommunications Company (YOU), regarding the case of the "Zakat" amount filed against the company.

The union explained that "the lawyer was subjected to arbitrary detention without any legal justification, after discussing the company's complaint, as the investigating officer stated that he would not be allowed to leave until the zakat amount was paid, ignoring the legal immunity that lawyers enjoy while performing their duties."

The Syndicate expressed its strong condemnation of this incident, considering it a blatant violation of lawyers’ rights and an obstruction of their legal work, which contradicts the constitution and applicable laws that guarantee lawyers the ability to perform their duties without harassment or intimidation.

The union stressed that it will not stand idly by in the face of these violations, stressing the need to hold accountable those responsible for this legal violation and take measures to ensure that it is not repeated in the future.

It also called on what it called the "competent authorities" to respect the independence of the legal profession and protect lawyers from any illegal practices that hinder the performance of their duties.