A Houthi court confirmed the death sentence this week against the leader of Yemen’s Bahai community after appeals.
Hamed bin Haydara was sentenced to death for espionage and apostasy in 2018. He was not allowed into Sunday’s hearing in the capital, Sanaa.
Mr bin Haydara was detained in 2013, beaten and given electric shocks, and forced to sign documents while blindfolded, the Bahai community says.
The Bahai office in the US condemned the decision and urged Houthi authorities to drop the charges against Mr bin Haydara and 24 other members of the group who are facing similar claims.
"We are shocked that the Houthi authorities have decided to uphold the death sentence for Hamed bin Haydara, who is innocent of any crime and the victim of a blatant, undisguised act of religious persecution," Anthony Vance, director of the US Bahai Office of Public Affairs, told The National.
“The Houthi authorities need to understand that, despite the world's preoccupation with the Covid-19 pandemic, they cannot slip this act of impunity by the eyes of the world."
The rebels have taken advantage of the coronavirus to push through Mr bin Haydara's death sentence, Abdullah Al Olofi, spokesman for the Bahai minority in Yemen, told The National.
“Our appeal to release Mr bin Haydara has been rejected and so his execution will go forward,” Mr Al Olofi said.
The Bahai faith was founded in Iran in 1844 and considers itself a universal religion. Iran’s establishment condemns the faith as heretical.
The Houthis are allied with Iran, which restricts the rights of Bahais despite allowing freedom of religion for Christians and Zoroastrians.
"At a time when the international community is battling a global health crisis, it is incomprehensible that the authorities in Sanaa have upheld a death sentence against an innocent individual solely because of his beliefs instead of focusing on safeguarding the population, including Bahais," said Diane Ala'i, the community's representative to the UN in Geneva.
Several members of the faith in Yemen have faced persecution, with many leaders on trial in Houthi courts in cases that have been condemned by the US and others as religious persecution.
Mr bin Haydara is one of six Bahais imprisoned in Sanaa by the Houthis.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Happy Tenant
Started: January 2019
Co-founders: Joe Moufarrej and Umar Rana
Based: Dubai
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Age: 46
Number of Children: Four
Hobby: Reading history books
Loves: Sports
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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
ELIO
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
