Yemeni model Entisar Al Hammadi. Facebook.
Yemeni model Entisar Al Hammadi. Facebook.
Yemeni model Entisar Al Hammadi. Facebook.
Yemeni model Entisar Al Hammadi. Facebook.

Kidnapped Yemeni model highlights plight of women detained by Houthi militias


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Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement is prosecuting a young model and actress on Wednesday, reliable sources in Sanaa told The National.

Her trial is going ahead despite the fact that her reported "arrest" by the militias amounts to kidnapping.

Entisar Al Hammadi was taken at gunpoint by Houthi militias along with two of her friends from a street in the Houthi controlled city, four weeks ago.

All that has been published about my girl is false and baseless

"The Houthi security authorities told her family that they have referred her case to the prosecutor and her first trial session is supposed to start today," a source based in Sanaa told The National.

Her lawyer also confirmed the trial would go ahead, despite the baseless nature of the charges and the fact that the Houthi movement has no legal standing in Yemen, or internationally.

Houthi rebels kidnapped the 19-year-old model with two of her friends while they were walking in Hadda street in southern Sanaa and took them to the central prison where they have been detained for four weeks.

A Yemeni walks through a pedestrian bridge in front of historic buildings in the old city of Sanaa, Yemen. EPA
A Yemeni walks through a pedestrian bridge in front of historic buildings in the old city of Sanaa, Yemen. EPA

According to the source who spoke to The National, Houthi security authorities detained Ms Al Hammadi and her friends based on fabricated charges.

"They said that Ms Al Hammadi and her friends were taking part in a ‘wild party’ in a house in Sanaa city" the source said.

The National contacted Ms Al Hammadi's mother by phone who confirmed that her daughter is being detained and will be interrogated.

The mother, who seemed fearful of the Houthis, would not give further details about her daughter's case.

Vehicles drive past historic buildings in the old city of Sanaa, Yemen, 12 April 2021.EPA
Vehicles drive past historic buildings in the old city of Sanaa, Yemen, 12 April 2021.EPA

"My daughter is in safe place and will be interrogated by the security authorities soon" the mother told The National.

A source in Sanaa informed The National that she was not able to speak freely about the situation due to intimidation by the militias.

Ms Al Hammadi was born to a Yemeni father and an Ethiopian mother.

"All that has been published about my girl is false and baseless," the mother said. With a shaking voice, she criticised local media reports. She added that she hoped the Houthis would free her as soon as possible.

Ms Al Hammadi was pursuing her ambition to become a fashion model. She started posting pictures without her hijab and wearing traditional Yemeni outfits, imitating famous models.

This wasn't welcomed by the conservative society around her.

“My parents told me my dream of becoming a model was pie in the sky. I told them that it was my dream and I would keep pursuing it,” she said during an interview on a local TV channel last year.

Ms Al Hammadi also took part in Yemeni drama series produced by the local Shabab TV and televised during Ramadan last year.

Her abduction with her friends ignited a wider outcry in Yemen and abroad.

Lawyers and activists launched a campaign on social media under the hashtag #freentisar calling for her immediate release.

Forces loyal to Yemen's Houthi rebels stand to attention during a mass funeral for fighters killed in battles with government troops, in Yemen's capital Sanaa. AFP
Forces loyal to Yemen's Houthi rebels stand to attention during a mass funeral for fighters killed in battles with government troops, in Yemen's capital Sanaa. AFP

Yemen’s government condemned the abduction of Ms Al Hammadi and her friends and called on the US and UN envoys to Yemen, and the international community, to condemn it.

They have appealed for the international community to pressure the Houthi rebels to free a dozen women still detained in the Houthi’s prisons.

"The heinous crime, that comes after Houthi terrorist militias announced death of Sultan Zaben, who is under international sanctions, confirms that crimes committed by Houthis against women is systematic and managed by organised networks to abuse Yemeni women," said Muammar Al Eryani, Yemen's Minister of Information.

Sultan Zaben was the Houthi manager of the Criminal Investigation Department, an organisation sanctioned by the US and the UN for torture and sexual violence against Yemeni women. The Houthis announced that he died suffering an incurable disease two weeks ago.

"We call on the international community, the UN and US envoys to Yemen and women's protection organisations to condemn the crime, and pressure the terrorist Houthi militia to stop using women for extortion, and release all disappeared women in their secret prisons unconditionally," Mr Al Eryani said.

Sinopharm vaccine explained

The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades. 

“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.

"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."

This is then injected into the body.

"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.

"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."

The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.

Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.

“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.

 

 

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Mr Al Qassimi is 37 and lives in Dubai
He is a keen drummer and loves gardening
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Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

VEZEETA PROFILE

Date started: 2012

Founder: Amir Barsoum

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: HealthTech / MedTech

Size: 300 employees

Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)

Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC

Panipat

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Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment

Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman

Rating 3 /stars

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Titanium Escrow profile

Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue  
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family