AL-MUKALA: Yemen's Houthi militia has rejected a call by Abdul Wahab Katran, an outspoken human rights activist released from prison, to fly abroad for medical treatment.
Mohammed, Katran's son, told Arab News on Monday that the Houthis had rejected his father's request to fly to Egypt to be treated for illnesses he contracted while in prison.
The Houthis released Judge Katran from prison in June after six months in a security and intelligence detention center on charges of spreading false information about their militia and its commanders, inciting people against them and accusing Houthi leaders of corruption.
Mohammed said his father urgently needed medical attention for blood pressure, skin and eye problems.
After his release, Qatran accused the Houthis of forcibly detaining him in the Security and Intelligence Prison in Sana'a, looting his home, documents and gadgets, and denying him medical care, clean water and adequate food, circumstances that led to the his skin diseases.
In a post on his new Facebook page this week, Katran said a doctor in Sana'a told him he was likely suffering from scabies after experiencing severe itching and red patches on his skin after washing in dark and rusty water in the detention center of the Houthis. .
“After six months of being in cells, my property was robbed and my license was taken away, only this Facebook profile remained, and I have scabies!” Katran reported this on Facebook.
Katran's post drew hundreds of responses from Yemenis sympathizing with him, wishing him a speedy recovery and urging the Houthis to allow him to seek better treatment abroad.
Katran also released a 14-page report on Sunday by Houthi investigators, who indicted him on more than 40 counts, including asking the public to rise up against the militia, accusing the Houthis of enrichment and corruption, expressing sympathy for Yemeni activists who were raped by the Houthis, sharing Facebook posts by critics of the Houthis criticizing the Houthis for attacking a ship in the Red Sea, praying for the late former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and expressing support.
