Rights activist arrested in Taiz

TAIZ, Dec. 09 (YPA) – A human rights activist was arrested on Friday by the coalition-backed local authorities in Al-Shamaytain district, southwest of Taiz province.

Head of the so-called “National Union of the Marginalized” called in a statement for the release of the activist, Mohammed Ali Al-Qira’I, from one of the coalition’s detention centers in the district, indicating that his kidnapping was due to his criticism of the corruption of the local authorities.

He held the coalition forces fully responsible for the life of Al-Qira’i, who suffers from cirrhosis of the liver.

The statement called on international humanitarian organizations to intervene urgently to release Al-Qira’i, and all the marginalized from the coalition-run prisons in the district.

Al-Qira’i, who is the so-called “Executive Chairman of the Movement for the Defense of Free Blacks,” has been subjected to arbitrary arrest during the past two days.