The American Center for Justice (ACJ) welcomes the release of detainee Asmaa Mater Al-Omaisi, after nearly nine years of arbitrary detention and severe violations she endured in Houthi-run prisons.
Al-Omaisi was arrested in early October 2016 and was initially sentenced to death by the Primary Criminal Court affiliated with the Houthi group. Her defense was undertaken by lawyer Abdulmajid Sabrah, who successfully appealed the ruling before the Court of Appeals, which commuted her sentence to 15 years. Sabrah then continued his efforts by appealing to the Court of Cassation, which overturned both the initial and appellate rulings and referred the case back to the Court of Appeals. A new sentence was subsequently issued, sentencing her to 10 years for a case in which she had not been formally charged, according to the indictment issued by the prosecution. This unprecedented ruling highlights the extent of judicial violations and the denial of justice in courts controlled by the Houthi group.
The ACJ emphasizes that this case not only exposes the scale of violations perpetrated by the Houthis but also the tragic paradox faced by her lawyer, Abdulmajid Sabrah, a prominent defender of detainees and abductees, who played a pivotal role in saving Asmaa Al-Amisi from execution. While dedicating his efforts to defend detainees and alleviate their suffering, he now remains imprisoned in the very same prisons he helped others escape, abducted without any legal justification, in a blatant violation of human rights and international law.
The American Center for Justice (ACJ) reiterates its call for the immediate and unconditional release of lawyer Abdulmajid Sabrah, as well as all women and men detained on political grounds or held arbitrarily. ACJ stresses that the continuation of these violations poses a serious threat to the principles of justice and human rights and requires urgent international action to ensure accountability and end impunity.
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