Rights groups had condemned the 2021 trial, which saw the model sentenced on dubious charges of "indecency," as a symbol of the Houthi regime's severe repression of women.
This is a locator map for Yemen with its capital, Sanaa. (AP Photo)
SANAA, YEMEN – Yemeni actor and model Intisar al-Hammadi has been released after more than four and a half years in a Houthi-run prison, her lawyer confirmed on Sunday. Her detention, based on charges widely condemned as a sham, became a global symbol of the Houthi movement's brutal crackdown on women's rights and personal freedoms in war-torn Yemen.
Lawyer Khalid al-Kamal stated that al-Hammadi, 25, was freed on Saturday from the Central Prison in the capital, Sanaa.
Al-Hammadi was forcibly detained by Houthi rebels in February 2021. After a trial that rights groups blasted as "marred with irregularities and abuse," a Houthi-run court sentenced her to five years in prison. The official charges "committing an indecent act" and "drug possession" were seen by critics as a pretext to punish her for challenging the movement's ultraconservative social norms by working as a public model and actor.
Her arrest and subsequent trial showcased the severe repression of women and dissent in the vast swathes of Yemen under Houthi control.
Born to a Yemeni father and an Ethiopian mother, al-Hammadi had built a promising career against all odds. She had worked as a model for four years and acted in two popular Yemeni soap opera series in 2020. Before her imprisonment, she was the sole breadwinner for her four-member family, which her detention left destitute.
Human Rights Watch and other organizations had sharply criticized the court proceedings, labeling them "arbitrary" and entirely lacking in due process. Al-Hammadi was arrested alongside three other women. She and another woman, Yousra al-Nashri, were handed five-year sentences, while the other two received shorter prison terms.
In the wake of her release, an online statement signed by dozens of Yemeni public figures welcomed her freedom. In a clear sign of the toll of her long imprisonment, the statement also included an urgent call for the Houthis to provide her with access to proper health care.
The case unfolded against the grim backdrop of Yemen's decade-long civil war, which pits the Iranian-backed Houthis against the internationally recognized government, supported by a Saudi-led coalition. The Houthis marched from their northern stronghold in 2014, capturing Sanaa and forcing the government into exile.
The conflict has since stalemated, creating one of the world's worst humanitarian crises in the Arab world's poorest country.
Al-Hammadi's case is indicative of a wider, systemic crackdown on women's freedoms. According to Human Rights Watch, both the Houthis and the internationally recognized government have dramatically restricted women's rights, including barring them from traveling between provinces or abroad without the permission of a male guardian or the accompaniment of a male relative.