https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...s-Yemeni-model-violating-public-morality.html
A Yemeni model who was arrested by Iran-backed Houthi rebels for ‘violating Islamic dress codes’ while on her way to a shoot has been jailed for five years.
Entesar Al-Hammadi, 20, was arrested in February at a checkpoint in the capital Sanaa over images which showed her without a headscarf in defiance of Yemeni societal norms.
On Sunday the model and actress was sentenced by a Sanaa court to five years in prison for violating public morality over the pictures.
Amnesty International and Hammadi’s lawyer Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal have claimed she was unfairly treated in detention being interrogated while blindfolded, physically and verbally abused and subjected to racist insults.
She was also allegedly forced to ‘confess’ to several offences, including drug possession and prostitution, and threatened by prosecutors with a so-called ‘virginity test’.
Her arrest and prosecution has been seen as a part of a series of crackdowns on objectors and liberals in areas of the country controlled by Houthi rebels.
A judicial source previously told Reuters Hammadi had been charged with carrying out an indecent act and going against Islamic principles.
Amnesty has branded her detention arbitrary and spurious and denounced her alleged brutal treatment while in custody.
Hammadi’s lawyer has made similar claims, alleging, among others things, that she was forced to sign a document while blindfolded and threatened with a so-called ‘virginity test’.
Houthi-run news outlet Saba on Sunday said Hammadi was also sentenced for using drugs, and said three other women were sentenced alongside her for crimes including debauchery, prostitution, violating public morality and drug taking.
She was arrested by rebels with two colleagues while on their way to film a drama TV series in February….
