Exclusive: Iran-backed Houthis arrest some of their leaders, put them in secret prisons

A number of Houthi leaders and supervisors had been arrested by a prominent leader in the group in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, and detained in secret prisons for a long time, as part of the wave of the raging conflict between the militia's influential forces. Informed sources told Khabar Agency.
 
This came in light of the escalation of intra-disputes and the raging conflict between the leaders of the Houthis in Sanaa governorate over influence, money, levies, and the monopoly of positions in power, since their forcible control of Sanaa and state institutions on September 21, 2014.
 
The widening state of popular discontent, especially in light of the deterioration of the living conditions of citizens in exchange for the outrageous wealth that appeared on the militia leaders, and the spread of corruption in all branches, have prompted the conflict between the Houthi leadership to come out into the open.
 
Elements of the leader Abdul Basit Al-Hadi aka "Abu Malik", who is impersonating the governor of Sanaa , arrested the leader Nazih Saleh Ali Al-Zindani, aka "Abu Nazih", on October 30, 2021, and beat him with rifle butts and took him with his eyes tied, to one of the secret prisons. The sources said.
 
According to the sources, Al-Zindani was imprisoned for a period of four months and twenty days, during which he was subjected to physical and psychological torture, especially during his interrogation by Houthi elements affiliated with Abdul Basit Al-Hadi and the director of his office, Zakaria Al-Fasih, aka "Abu Zakaria", accusing him of working for the Houthi leaders as Haneen Qutina, the former governor of Sanaa, and Faris Al-Habbari, impersonating the governor of Raymah, to incite against the "Al-Hadi" on social media and to publish documents on the widespread corruption in Sanaa.
 
Sources close to the militia in Sanaa told Khabar Agency about other similar incidents, one of which was that Houthi elements affiliated with the leader Abdul Basit Al-Hadi and his office manager kidnapped a second Houthi element, aka "Abu Tareq Al-Qarani", after was requested to come to the Sanaa governorate compound and detained him for a year and a half in one of the secret prisons that belong to Al-Hadi in Sanaa .
 
As part of the series of enforced disappearances, local sources told Khabar Agency that Houthi elements affiliated with the Houthi leader Abdul Basit Al-Hadi kidnapped a Houthi element named Mohammed Al-Jarmozi and took him to one of their secret prisons.
 
The kidnapping came after Al-Jarmozi launched a harsh criticism of the financial and administrative corruption run by the leader, Al-Hadi, accusing him directly of being behind the looting of many endowment lands and real estate.