AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia has turned down an appeal from Abdul Wahab Qatran, an outspoken legal activist freed from jail, to fly overseas for medical treatment.
Mohammed, Qatran’s son, told Arab News on Monday that the Houthis denied his father’s plea to fly to Egypt to seek medical treatment for ailments developed while in prison.
The Houthis freed Judge Qatran from jail in June after six months in a security and intelligence facility on allegations of distributing false information about their militia and its commanders, inciting the people against them, and accusing Houthis leaders of corruption.
Mohammed said that his father is in urgent need of medical attention for blood pressure, skin, and eye problems.
Following his release, Qatran accused the Houthis of forcefully detaining him at Sanaa’s Security and Intelligence Prison, plundering his house, papers, and gadgets, and denying him medical care, clean water, and sufficient food, circumstances that caused him to suffer skin ailments.
In a post on his new Facebook page this week, Qatran said that a doctor in Sanaa informed him that he is most likely suffering from scabies after experiencing extreme itching and red patches on his skin after washing in dark and rusty waters in the Houthi detention facility.
“After half a year in their cells, my possessions were robbed and rights were taken, just this Facebook profile was left, and I had scabies!” Qatran said on Facebook.
Qatran’s post drew hundreds of responses from Yemenis who sympathized with him, wished him a swift recovery, and urged the Houthis to enable him to seek better treatment abroad.
Qatran also posted on Sunday a 14-page report of Houthis investigators accused him of more than 40 charges, including asking the public to revolt against the militia, accusing Houthis of enrichment and corruption, expressing sympathy with Yemeni activists abused by the Houthis, sharing Facebook posts of Houthi critics, criticizing the Houthis for attacking ships in the Red Sea, praying for late former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and expressing support.
