Three popular artists are in the prisons of the Houthi militia, in Amran Governorate, northern Yemen, on charges of committing the “crime of singing.”

Local sources said that elements affiliated with the Houthi leader Naif Abu Kharshafa, appointed director of the governorate police, stormed (Friday) one of the wedding halls in the city of Amran, and kidnapped three popular artists.

She added that the militia members kidnapped the popular artist Hashem Al-Sharafi, the artist Muhammad Al-Dahimi, and the music distributor, Mabrouk Al-Dahimi, from the wedding hall, and took them to one of its prisons in the governorate, according to what was reported by the local “Al-Masdar Online” news website.

The sources explained that “the Houthi militias threatened all owners of wedding halls to close the halls if songs were played, and obliged them to play the “Al-Zawamil” of the Iranian-backed group.

Last Saturday, the militias stormed a wedding hall and kidnapped the popular artist Bassam Mohsen Adad.

"Campaign against wedding hall owners"

The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms said in a statement that it is following "with great concern the frenzied and hysterical campaigns carried out by the Houthi group against hall owners and artists in Amran Governorate, and the arrest of a number of artists led by the so-called Nayef Abu Kharfshah, who was appointed as Director of Security in Amran Governorate."

It called on the international community, the United Nations, UN and American envoys, and human rights organizations and bodies to condemn these criminal practices, and to put real pressure on the leaders of the Houthi group to force them to release all detainees and abductees unconditionally and hold the Houthi militia fully responsible.

The militia’s violations against popular artists in the governorate come in implementation of the directives of the Houthi leader Abu Kharshafa, who recently issued instructions to ban songs as “haram” at weddings and events, and limit themselves to the group’s affiliates, and to impose a financial fine and imprison anyone who violates these directives, according to sources. In the governorate.