The court held the first hearing, the lawyers presented their defenses and requested their release, but the prosecution did not release Al-Mayahi from prison.

Yemen

Yamanat – Sanaa

The Specialized Criminal Court of the Capital Secretariat met on Monday May 12, 2025: first session of the trial of journalist Muhammad Dabwan Al-Mayahi.

During the hearing, Al-Mayahi’s lawyers presented arguments of incompetence and requested urgent release, while Al-Mayahi did not appear in court.

Lawyer Ammar Ali Yassin said: We showed up on time with Judge Rabie Al-Zubair before the Specialized Criminal Court, and after waiting, it became clear that they had not released Mohammed from prison. !! And this, for no apparent reason.

He added: Since it was the first session; He had to be confronted with an indictment and a list of evidence in accordance with the law, but to take advantage of the time and as we were soon approaching the judicial recess, we filed a motion arguing that the court did not have qualitative jurisdiction.

He emphasized that the court has the right to respond to such defenses on its own initiative, at any stage of the dispute.

Yassin, who is the head of Al-Mayahi’s defense team, explained that the defense team submitted an urgent release request, adding that the prosecution opposed the release request, while the judge refused to rule on this issue during the hearing, decided to re-examine it for the next session and warned the prosecution not to release the prisoner from prison.

He said: We will not announce the date of the next session so that it is not an excuse not to bring it back. Stressing that Al-Mayahi’s absence was due to the number of participants in the session.

The session was attended by dozens of Al-Mayahi’s family, friends and fans, as well as a number of volunteer lawyers.

Yemen