Yones’s father has shocked when knew that his son was kidnaped. He was calling to ask about his job, but he has known that Yones was detained in unknown place on Wed. 4^th, Aug. 2021. His parents were in fear and anxiety for many days, they don’t know what will happen to Yones.

Yones has disappeared, and his parents were anxiety even more waiting for any news about him. He is suffering from OCD and has a bad psychological position, in addition; it has spent 14 days of his disappearing from the same month until on Wednesday, 18^th Aug. 2021 one of the lawyers went to the security apparatus and intelligence in Sana’a to figure out any new updates about Yones’s case, eventually they confessed that they have him.

Sultan Abdussalam Yones’s brother said that: “on Wednesday’s evening, 4^th Aug. 2021 As usual, Yones went out to hang out and breath fresh air because he was suffering from OCD and he never came back. We tried calling him many times and our girls called him too but the phone was switched off. Next day, the phone has switched on in the afternoon and somebody told us that Yones is detained in the security apparatus and intelligence. After that when we have informed the 22 May police station and the intelligence too, unfortunately they haven’t responded.”

Sultan cleared that Yones’s phone has switched on for few minutes as daily, but they don’t respond. Plus, activated his Face Book account for many days, and when I’ve sent to him a message to check on him and the answer was ” Don’t worry, I’m working near from you”. As well as, the reason of switching on the phone and activate the account just to figure out whose texting Yones.

He continued: ” We haven’t heard anything about him until one of the lawyers went to the security apparatus and intelligence on Wed. 18^th Aug. 2021, and she insisted to have some information about Yones. Then they have told her that they have him, on the other hand; I’ve called them on (100) No., took some information from me and bluffed me, but they haven’t called back.”

First Visiting

Sultan said that, “After many days of connection, they allowed me to visit him and the first visiting was on Tuesday 28^th Sep., I was surprised to see his face for the first time in a while. He looked very exhausted and tired. The visiting was very short and I wasn’t alone, but there were many soldiers and I asked them about my brother’s charge, they refused to answer, then they haven’t allowed us to visit him again for more than a month.

80 days in a solitary cell

Sultan assured that Yones Abdussalam has spent 80 days in a solitary cell, and when they took him out from it they allowed his family to visit him in the middle of every month. After they have could to talk to him, he told his family that he accused for outreach to external interlocutors. Also, they have a file with all his articles that didn’t appropriate to them, and they arrested him near to Sana’a Airport and took him to a dark and narrow cell underground. Also, he was hearing a loud screaming and couldn’t sleep.

He noted that “Yones was suffering from his psychological case now, and we sent the medical report has described his case to Houthi but they didn’t respond.

In addition; The Houthi have demand a commercial grantee to release him and we gave it to them before 4 months, but they didn’t release him until now and would refer him to the prosecution for trial.”

His mental health is bad

On the other hand; Yones’s friend Mohammed Almekhlafi said that “Yones is a Yemeni journalist and writer. His psychological health got worse when he got released from one of the transitional detention facilities in Aden, whose psychological condition doubled so much, that he walked in underwear on the streets of Sana ‘a late at night. He loved loneliness and didn’t like to talk or be with others. Also, he is a simple and noble young man, and he is a free writer and author. He was expressing his situations honestly, criticizing the different political parties and didn’t belong to any partisan or political ideology.” He added that “He suffered from psychological pressures since he released from the detention in Aden. He was taking depression medicine and hanging out at night to take deep breath. Also, on the third of Aug. he was arrested by the Houthi party without a clear accusing.”

“At the end, Yones was always as miserable as this city, I’ve known Yones since 2017 in Sana’a and from the first meeting I realized that I’ve known him for many years ago because we may have lived the same circumstances in village.” Mohammed said.

An ambitious and inspiring man

Essam Alqadasi is Yones’s friend said that “Yones was the only friend who wrote about everything inside us, our suffering, miserable and daily pains. He was the only one who presented the lower classes whom come from villages with fancy dreams to the city, unfortunately that drowns with frustrations as many of media students. Yones has graduated to a miserable reality and the war that destroyed cities, and because he was rebellious, it didn’t success to be a member of any party to protect him.”

Sadly, he added: “He was a picture of poor and village people who were lonely. Also, he has great dreams such as writing, travelling and immigrating to far away from home, and he was always dreaming of asylum, but the circumstances were stronger than him.”

Alqadasi wonders how Younis spent all this time in the detention, Younis, where life on the streets and sidewalks was suffocating him. So how is it a place where going to the bathroom is a picnic? For this moment I couldn’t imagine, and who didn’t have the price of a dinner couldn’t be an agent.

Alqadasi assured that ” Yones couldn’t be an agent, betrayer or work for any third party because the situation that lived unexpected; the one who didn’t have the price of a dinner couldn’t be an agent as he said.” In addition; “there were information including the country that could anyone was spying with and uncovered to the enemies. The real spies who were in front of the embassies in Sana’a before the war didn’t keep anything, and they sold everything.”

Dealing outside the frame of Constitution and Law

The lawyer Abdulmajeed Sabra said that “the security apparatus and intelligence didn’t have any legal technic that dealing with the detainee case (Yones Abdussalam), the only dealing was outside the constitution and law.” Also he assured that “the case didn’t prosecute to the judiciary and this confirms the constitutional and legal infringement of the handling of the case, since the Yemeni Constitution required the security agency to refer any detainee to the courts within 24 hours, in accordance with article 48 of the constitution. Also, he hasn’t allowed to meet Yones and that’s another constitutional and legal infringement, and pointed that arresting Yones was unrelated to the Constitution and the law.”

Being gagged

He added that ” Houthi group deliberately prosecuted journalists in the Specialized Criminal Court (State Security Court) for the purpose of terrorizing them and kept their voices down. This was also a grave violation of freedom of opinion and expression”, as well as; Mohammed Ismail, the executive manager of Media Freedom Observatory in Yemen, that belongs to Studies and Economic Media Center, said that “We observe consistently the violation cases and the restrictions the Houthi group against the media and journalists in its areas of control, in fact, is a translation of a systematic policy practiced by the group since it took control of the Yemeni capital, Sana ‘a, following a speech by the leader of the group calling journalists enemy number one.”

Ismail clarified that “Houthi group involved the journalist Yones Abdussalam to their list of 11 detainees without regard for the state of health confirmed by numerous medical reports.”

Ismail referred to the file of journalist Younis Abdussalam, who has not been referred to the court since his arrest at the beginning of August 2021 eight months ago as clear and explicit evidence that the group treats journalists as adversaries and prisoners of war. Adding at the Media Freedoms Observatory, “we reiterate our demand for the immediate release of journalist Younis and all other journalists and media workers arrested.”

The other arresting

Sultan Abdussalam, brother of Younis, explained that “he had already been arrested by the Security Belt Forces at the entrance to Aden about a year ago when he tried to enter Aden several times. The day there was campaigns against northern citizens, which prompted him to have verbal arguments with the soldiers, and they shackled him with rifle butts and threw him into one of their basements, handcuffed and left him about 24 hours and didn’t give him even a glass of water.”

He continued, “after social media outlets aroused solidarity, forced to release him under pressure from e-campaigns two days after the abduction, after which they made an apology on the grounds that they were unaware or knew he was a journalist and his psychological condition was very difficult. Then he was in his head wounded. The Al-Houthi was responsible for his psychological complications by not providing the treatment scheduled for nine months.

The journalist, Younis Abdussalam, was arrested on Wednesday evening in August 2021 on a street in Sana’a after going out to have fresh air due to his poor psychiatric condition and depression, which was accompanied by “OCD” according to a psychiatrist report.”

Yemen is the worst country for the journalists

The Media Freedoms Observatory in Yemen has observed 86 cases of violations freedom of expression in Yemen against people and media organizations, involving the Houthi movement and the legitimate government in its various components, as well as 9 cases recorded against unknown people, including the killing of five journalists in last year of 2021.

In addition; 20 cases of violations were observed during the first quarter of 2022, including one case of murder, 12 journalists remained under arrest, including 11 with Al-Houthi detainees and another journalist with Al-Qaida in Hadhrmout governorate.

According to the World Journalism Freedom Ranking in 2021, Yemen is ranked 19th out of 180 countries that are among the worst to suppress freedom of opinion and expression.