Protests erupted in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Saturday to demand the Iran-backed Houthi authorities, who control the city, to speed up trials of five suspects accused of torturing and killing a Yemeni youth.
Suspicions have arisen, however, that the Houthis may manipulate the case in order to acquit suspects who are close to the militias.
Abdullah al-Aghbari’s case came to light after footage showed the five suspects taking turns in beating and torturing him for five hours until he died. The video was circulated on social media on Wednesday, sparking outrage in the country. The footage was shot by a surveillance camera at a mobile phone shop where the suspects work.
Saturday’s rally began at the Houthi-controlled Justice Ministry and ended at the crime scene. Demonstrators have demanded that the suspects be punished for their crime.
Different stories have emerged over the motives of the crime. Some people have speculated that the murder was aimed at covering up honor killings committed by the Houthis with the five suspects. The suspects had allegedly used the backroom at the store where al-Aghbari was beaten as a “center” to blackmail women and photograph them in indecent positions after stealing their personal photos from their mobile phones. The victims are reportedly forced to join the Houthi movement or sexually abused by powerful militiamen.
After coming under popular pressure, the Houthis released redacted confessions of four of the suspects. It released the redacted confession of the final suspect on Saturday in what was seen as an attempt to manipulate the crime and cover up its real motives, said rights sources in Sanaa.
A source close to al-Aghbari’s family told Asharq Al-Awsat that he started to work at the mobile phone shop, which is owned by one of the suspects, some two weeks before his murder.
Yemeni activists revealed that influential tribal officials, who are loyal to the Houthis, had been seeking to pay for the family’s silence over the case. The emergence of the video, however, brought the case out in the open.
The Houthis have since then launched a probe at police station that is controlled by them. Lawyers involved in the case revealed that pro-Houthi prosecutors barred them from attending the investigations, which was slammed by rights officials as illegal. They saw it as a sign that the Houthis were beginning to manipulate the case, hide evidence and avoid any responsibility in the crime.
Aghbari’s case has brought to mind the numerous crimes the Houthis have committed against the Yemeni people, including the dozens of cases related to the kidnapping, sexual abuse and extortion of women.
