Michigan - The American Center (ACJ) condemns the storming of the home of journalist and human rights activist Mujahid Al-Haiqi at dawn on Tuesday in the Al-Dis area of the city of Mukalla. The raid resulted in the arrest of 9 family members, including journalist Mujahid and 5 minors.
The ACJ followed with great concern a video footage circulated by activists and journalists that showed a number of armed men storming the house. It is worth mentioning that the video included footage of family members in a state of extreme terror and fear while initial information showed that the storming of the house was due to the journalistic and human rights activity of Mujahid.
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It is noteworthy here that the journalist “Mujahid” had published in the early hours of the morning of today some news on his Facebook page stating that he and his family had been released, where he said, “By the grace of Allah, my father, my uncle, my half-brother, my four cousins and I were released this evening. We are still completing some procedures to release my other uncle, God willing.”
The American Center for Justice (ACJ) confirms that what happened with journalist Al-Haiqi sheds only some light on the disturbing reality for those working in the journalistic and human rights fields, noting that it is continuously documenting multiple and escalating violations by the parties to the conflict against journalists and activists in several areas in Yemen.
The American Center for Justice (ACJ) expresses in the strongest terms its condemnation of the unjustified incident. It also emphasizes that what happened with “Al-Haiqi” is a serious violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Yemeni Constitution, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and international law, which categorically affirmed the inadmissibility of restricting the freedom of individuals or storming their homes without reasoned judicial permission. Additionally, the ACJ indicated that the storming and kidnapping included serious violations that require accountability.
The center concluded its statement by calling on the authorities in Hadramaut to urgently open an investigation into the incident and to bring those involved in this serious attack to fair trial, stressing that it is essential for all parties to respect the rights of journalists and activists and stop persecuting or harassing them.