Yemen’s Houthi militia closed 14 stores that sell DVDs of movies, music, and series in separate areas of Sanaa as part of the group's continued restriction of freedoms.
Informed sources in Sanaa said that the Houthi group began its campaign a week ago in Main and al-Wahda districts, claiming it was implementing the directives of its leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, against the "soft war."
The militias imposed strict restrictions on stores that sell music, series, and movies, encouraging them to sell "Zawamel," songs that promote the coup and the war they have been waging for nine years against Yemenis.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, store owners stressed that the militias closed many shops in an ongoing campaign to collect royalties and force them to sell specific types of movies and songs.
The Houthi campaign was met with widespread discontent among the population.
Activists said the group's behavior reveals the truth about its hostility and hatred towards all types of arts.
- Promoting war songs
A store owner in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group's members forced workers to pay royalties as a punishment for selling "indecent songs and soap operas" that promote sedition.
A cafe owner in Sanaa reported that he was subjected to a severe reprimand by a Houthi leader while playing a song by Yemeni artist Ayoob Tarish Absi.
The cafe owner, who asked not to be identified, asserted that the Houthi official, Abu Muhaib, immediately asked him to turn off the radio, vowing to break it and penalize him if he played songs again.
He pointed out that the militia leader had given him recordings of Houthi chants that incite sectarianism, asking him to play them instead to motivate customers to engage in the fronts.
The militias had previously imposed strict restrictions on freedoms and controlled the privacy of the population and their way of life and livelihood.
Senior Houthi leaders recently decided to separate male and female students in the Faculty of Information at Sanaa University, which sparked anger among human rights, political, and popular circles.
They described the Houthi decision as ISIS-like, saying it went against the values of freedom and equality that Yemenis have struggled for decades.
