Houthi militia abducts 3 YouTubers amid crackdown on online influencers
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Hashim Sheikh
- . January 4, 2023
- . Update: January 4, 2023 3:41 pm
The Houthi militia abducted three well-known Yemeni YouTubers in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, as the group has stepped up its crackdown on social media influencers who expose Houthi leaders’ flaws to the public.
According to activists, Houthis have kidnapped social media influencers Mustafa Al-Mumari, Hamoud Al-Mesbahi, and Ahmed Elaw for posting videos on the internet in support of YouTuber Ahmed Hajar, who was seized from Sanaa more than 10 days ago.
Reportedly, online influencers’ social media posts criticised corruption in the country. The social media posts also talked about famine issues as many Yemenis are in need of food, water, shelter and medicine.
Mustafa Al-Mumari has over two million YouTube subscribers and tens of thousands of Facebook fans. He is one of the most popular social media personalities in Yemen. In one of his videos, he criticised the Houthis for kidnapping Ahmed Hajar. He also revealed that some Houthi leaders were “corrupt.” He asked the Houthi militia to solve the problem of institutional corruption. He also said that he had evidence against prominent Houthi leaders.
Mustafa Al-Mumari and Hamoud Al-Mesbahi were kidnapped from a Sanaa street by the Houthis. The group took them to a security facility.
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Ahmed Elaw also posted a video on social media, demanding the release of Ahmed Hajar. He also urged the Houthis to not ignore corruption. Subsequently, the Houthis kidnapped him from his home.
Recently, a Yemeni attorney in Sanaa said that Houthi intelligence, security personnel and prosecutors started interrogating YouTuber Ahmed Hajar at the Shamlan building in preparation for his trial over his YouTube videos.
According to Arab News, Lawyer Abdul Majeed Sabra confirmed that the Houthis were interrogating the YouTuber at the Shamlan building of the Security and Intelligence Service.
Reportedly, the Houthis have not yet claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the prominent YouTubers.
