Lawyer appeals to save the life of sick Yemeni colonel

Colonel Abdulmajid Aloos was transferred to hospital suffering with a brain haemorrhage

Houthi fighters shout slogans during a gathering on the outskirts of Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters

A lawyer has pleaded for the life of his client, a Yemeni colonel who is facing a death sentence from a Houthi court and has been admitted to a hospital with brain injuries.

The lawyer, Abdulmajid Sabra, told The National that Colonel Abdulmajid Aloos 55, is a former head of the Military Innovations Unit in the Yemen Ministry of Defence, who was sentenced at the Houthis' Specialized Criminal Court in Sanaa.

“[He] faces a final death sentence ruled by Houthi court in December 2019 for politically motivated charges, [and] was transferred to Al Jamhouri public hospital in Sanaa earlier on July 2020 suffering brain haemorrhage “the defendant’s lawyer Abdulmajid Sabra told The National on Thursday.

“On Monday July 13, 2020 the Houthi security authorities in Sanaa called Aloos’s family, asking them to visit him in Al Jamhouri hospital.

“His family went to see him in the hospital but they found him almost-dead. He wasn’t able to talk to them any more,” said Sabra, who is based on Sanaa.

He said that Aloos was captured by the Houthis near his residence in the old city of Sanaa in March 2016, and for three months his family did not know where he was.

“Aloos was exposed to brutal torture while he was being questioned, bruises still visible on his face. He repeatedly asked to be seen by a forensic doctor and the court accepted his request but the security authorities refused to do so. They rejected the court request to let the doctor see him for three times,” Sabra said.

According to the lawyer, the Houthi court issued a primary verdict against Aloos on July 10, 2017 sentencing him to death on charges of working for the Saudi-led coalition.

“The rule was appealed but the court upheld the primary verdict in December 15, 2019,” Sabra said.

A relative Aloos, who spoke to The National anonymously fearing the Houthi reprisal, said that the Houthi security authorities refused to free the sick colonel.

A prison doctor told his family that he is suffering brain haemorrhage in addition to diabetes and hypertension.

“We were extremely shocked seeing him almost dead. He appeared tired, pale and very thin. We tried to talk to him, be he wasn’t responding” the relative said.

“We asked the security authorities to give us a copy of the medical report that describes his condition but they declined our request. They took him back to the detention despite of his deteriorating condition” he added.

Aloos’s relative also urged the Houthi authorities to free the colonel as soon as possible due to his worsening health conditions.

“He is almost dead. He doesn’t hear or speak any more. What is the use of keeping him in the prison while he is living his latest days? If you have little humanity, free him soon and let us take care for him the rest of his days,” the relative said.