Griffiths Urges Swift Release of Detainees at Yemeni Prisoner Swap Talks

UN Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths- Reuters
UN Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths- Reuters
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Griffiths Urges Swift Release of Detainees at Yemeni Prisoner Swap Talks

UN Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths- Reuters
UN Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths- Reuters

Yemeni warring parties have launched prisoner swap talks in Geneva with Iran-backed Houthis including their self-proclaimed Central Bank Governor Hashim Ismail Ali Ahmed as part of their negotiating delegation.

Delegates from Yemen’s internationally recognized government sat down in Geneva with their rivals for talks co-chaired by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). But Ahmed’s presence at the talks spurred controversy among attendees.

Well-informed sources tied the Sanaa-based governor’s attendance to the ongoing financial crisis Houthis are experiencing. Yemeni activists and researchers have cast many doubts over Ahmed accompanying the Houthi delegation.

“It is really strange for a Houthi leader who is posed as a central bank governor to partake in this type of conversation that is far from economic,” Yemeni writer and political analyst Hamdan al-Alyi told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Alyi explained that Ahmed’s presence at the talks is evidence to claims that Houthis are looking to exploit the UN and international organizations to carry out their personal political and economic agendas.

He also said it is an attempt by Houthis to break out of their isolation and get rid of their labeling as coupists by the international community.

UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths, for his part, tweeted his hopes for the Yemeni parties to "release detainees swiftly" and "bring relief to thousands of Yemeni families."

Yemeni political analyst Lutfi Nomaan, in statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, confirmed that resuming prisoner swap talks is a positive indicator for implementing an agreement that was put on ice due to the coronavirus.

“There is no doubt that moving this humanitarian issue sends a positive sign in the implementation of an agreement that was postponed after a long interruption imposed by the pandemic,” Nomaan said.

A deal to trade 15,000 prisoners was considered a breakthrough during 2018 peace talks in Sweden. The negotiations produced a sequence of confidence-building measures, including a cease-fire in the strategic port city of Hodeidah. But ongoing military offensives across the country and deep-seated mutual distrust has repeatedly delayed the exchange.

Yara Khawaja, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yemen, said she welcomed the negotiations “for the sake of the families waiting for loved ones to return home.”

“It’s in the hands of the parties to the conflict to bring long-lasting positive change,” she added.

The office of the UN envoy said it was unclear how long the Geneva talks would take.



Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
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Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)

A Tunisian court on Tuesday handed jail terms of 12 to 35 years on high-profile politicians, including opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi and former security officials, a move that critics say underscores the president's use of the judiciary to cement “authoritarian rule”.

Among those sentenced on charges of conspiring against the state in the major mass trial, were Nadia Akacha, the former chief of staff to President Kais Saied, local radio Mosaique FM said. Akacha who fled abroad received 35 years.

Ghannouchi, 84, veteran head of the Islamist-leaning Ennahda party, was handed a 14-year term.

Ghannouchi who was the speaker of the elected parliament dissolved by Saied, has been in prison since 2023, receiving three sentences of a total of 27 years in separate cases in recent months.

A total of 21 were charged in the case, with 10 already in custody and 11 having fled the country.

The court sentenced former intelligence chief Kamel Guizani to 35 years, former Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem to 35 years, and Mouadh Ghannouchi, son of Rached Ghannouchi, to 35 years. All three have fled the country.

Saied dissolved the parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree, then dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges, a move that opposition called a coup which undermined the nascent democracy that sparked in 2011 the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings.

Saied rejects the accusations and says his steps are legal and aim to end years of chaos and corruption hidden within the political elite.

Most opposition leaders, some journalists, and critics of Saied have been imprisoned since he seized control of most powers in 2021.

This year, a court handed jail terms of 5 to 66 years to opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers on charges of conspiring as well, a case the opposition says is fabricated in an attempt to stamp out opposition to the president.