A Yemeni journalist attacked by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Sanaa last week has flown to Jordan for medical treatment. It comes as local and international campaigners condemned the militant group for persecuting dissenting voices in Yemen.
Majili Al-Samadi, the head of the Voice of Yemen private Radio, posted a photo taken onboard his flight from Houthi-controlled Sanaa to Amman, Jordan , with a message in which he said goodbye to his followers, followed by another about his hospital care in Jordan.
On Jan. 1, less than a day after Al-Samadi criticized a judge at a Houthi-run court for denying his appeal against a ban on his radio broadcasts, an armed group with suspected connections to the Houthis assaulted him, for the second time in six months, and broke the windows of his car outside his home in Sanaa.
Al-Samadi said the attack caused his hands to swell and become red as a result of blood clots and that he was having difficulty moving his hands and legs.
In early 2022, the Houthis shut down Voice of Yemen Radio and five other radio stations for refusing to broadcast the group’s propaganda. The first attack on Al-Samadi was in August, after he continued to protest against the broadcast ban, and supported public demands for the Houthis to pay government employees’ wages.