Houthi court continues trials against Bahai in Yemen despite release orders

The Houthi-controlled Criminal Court in Yemen’s capital Sanaa held a new trial session for 24 members of the Bahai faith on Saturday, despite previous calls for the case to be dropped.

“The judge and the public prosecutor appeared confused because they know that the trial is baseless,” the Yemeni Initiative for Defending Bahai Rights in Sanaa said.

“For the second time, the lawyer of the defendants asked the prosecution to reply to the defence memo he already handed them requesting the lawsuit be dropped based on previous directives issued by the head of the Houthi Supreme Council Mr Mahdi Al Mashat,” it said.

The judge has postponed the hearing to April 13 to allow the prosecution to reply to the defence memo.

The Houthi authorities controlling the Yemeni capital Sanaa called for the arrest of the 24 Bahai people in April 2017 over charges of working for foreign parties and “displaying rectitude of conduct in order to attract people to their faith” according to a report issued by the Bahai University.

The Yemeni Initiative for Defending Bahai Rights called for broader solidarity with Bahais in Yemen to pressure the Houthis to drop baseless trials and allow members of the community forcibly deported from Yemen to come back to live in their country.

Followers of the Bahai faith in Yemen have suffered mounting discrimination in recent years with an increase in persecution, arbitrary detentions and forcible departure conducted by Houthi authorities controlling the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

Abdullah Al Oulofi, the spokesman of the Bahai minority in Yemen told The National that the hearing session on Saturday came as an extension of a series of trials being conducted against these 24 followers of the Baha’i faith since April 2017.

The charges were dropped based on a decree issued by Mr Al Mashat in March 25, 2020.

The Houthi court carrying the prosecution said the order was a “release order” but not a “pardon order”.

"Based on the orders of Mr Al Mashat, five Bahai prisoners of the 24 in this case were released along with Hamid bin Haydara and deported in July 2020. But after departing Hamid and the other five who were released with him, the court continued the trial sessions against the 24 Bahais,” Mr Oulofi said.

Mr Haydara, a leader in the Bahai community, was arrested on December 2013 and later sentenced to death on trumped up charges of espionage and apostasy.

“The court brands the six Bahai prisoners recently released and deported as “fugitives” despite the release order which was issued and implemented by the ruling authority in Sanaa itself” he said.

He considers the continuation of the trial an attempt to further undermine Bahai’ rights in Yemen.

“The goal of such baseless trials is clear. They aim to strip the Bahai’s of their property and to force the followers of the Baha’i faith to leave the country” Mr Al Oulofi said.

The trial has drawn local and international condemnation.

“The prolongation of this sham trial is nothing short of an embarrassment, having been condemned by all corners of the international community and the media” Anthony Vance, director of the US Bahai Office of Public Affairs, told The National.

“We call on the Houthi authorities to drop all charges against the Bahais of Yemen, who are not guilty of any crime.”

“The Bahais should be free from the threat of arrest and the seizure of their property and allowed to live as they desire: as full citizens contributing to the betterment of their country, Yemen.”