Yemen: Iran-backed Houthis kidnap Bar Association president

Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthis stormed the headquarters of the Bar Association in Sanaa on Thursday and kidnapped the organisation's president.

Private sources told Yemen Details that members of the Houthi group stormed the union's headquarters and kidnapped its President, Abdullah Rajeh, and took him to an unknown destination.

The body had recently announced its intention to hold a meeting to discuss the violations that lawyers are being subjected to by influential persons in the Houthi-controlled judicial institutions or by militia leaders.

On Tuesday it called on the Houthi-led Interior Ministry to protect its headquarters and secure its meeting.

The Bar Association's meeting was the first of its kind aiming to mitigate the violations that lawyers are exposed to. It was due to be the first union action against corruption in Sanaa.