US urges Yemen's Houthis to stop targeting Bahai community
24 February, 2020
AMERICA has pressed Yemen's Houthi rebels to drop charges targeting the Bahai community, which said that 24 believers of the faith will face a new trial session Tuesday.
Sam Brownback, the united states ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, voiced concern at reports a court in Yemen's Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa is again summoning the the Bahais, who in 2018 were slapped with charges that include apostasy and espionage.
"We urge them to drop these allegations, release those arbitrarily detained, and respect religious freedom for all," he wrote on Twitter.
The United States has pressed Yemen's Houthi rebels to drop charges targeting the Bahai community, which said that 24 believers of the faith will face a new trial session Tuesday.
Sam Brownback, the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, voiced concern at reports a court in Yemen's Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa is again summoning the the Bahais, who in 2018 were slapped with charges that include apostasy and espionage.
"We urge them to drop these allegations, release those arbitrarily detained, and respect religious freedom for all," he wrote on Twitter.
The Houthis are allied with Iran's Shiite clerical regime, which restricts the rights of Bahais despite allowing freedom of religion for Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians.
Thousands of Baha'is are estimated to live in Yemen. Among them is Hamed bin Haydara, who was sentenced in 2018 to execution with appeals in his case under review.
Source: www.thenational.ae
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