Sanaa. The Judges’ Club reveals that the director of criminal investigations in Hodeidah attacked a judge in the middle of a market

Yemen

Yamanat – Sanaa

The Sanaa Judges Club revealed that a judge was assaulted by the director of criminal investigations in western Yemen’s Hodeidah governorate.

The club said in a statement issued at dawn on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, that the Director of Criminal Investigations of Hodeidah Governorate, Sadiq Muhammad Al-Zaidi, attacked the judge – whose name was not revealed – at Othman Market, Jamal Street, downtown Hodeidah.

The statement emphasizes that the reason for the attack is due to the fact that the judge took over the investigation in a case related to an illegal search and deprivation of liberty, in which the Zaidi officer was accused before 2015.

The club called for the immediate arrest of the director of criminal investigations in Hodeidah, Sadiq Muhammad Al-Zaidi, and his suspension from his work, as well as the opening of an urgent and courageous investigation and his referral to dissuasive legal responsibility, so that everyone realizes that the judiciary is not an orphan, that its prestige cannot be touched or compromised, and that anyone who attacks judges attacks the state itself.

The club held the Ministry of Interior and the Public Prosecutor’s Office fully accountable for protecting judges, preserving the sanctity of the judiciary and preventing the repetition of dangerous practices that threaten the pillars of justice and society.

Text of the declaration

The Yemeni Judges Club expresses its deep anger and strongest denunciation of what happened this afternoon, Monday 3 Jumada al-Akhirah 1447 AH, corresponding to November 24, 2025 AD, when a man of justice was returning from his workplace, carrying the concerns of the litigants and the conscience of the State in his hands, when he was surprised at the Othman market on Jamal Street by a person who was supposed to be the first to keep the law. Sadiq Muhammad al-Zaidi, director of the Criminal Investigation Department in Hodeidah governorate, approached him with behavior that had nothing to do with state prestige or accountability. Post with minimal relevance.

The case began with a provocative question that struck a persistent chord: “Are you a judge of public funds?” When the answer was clear, the conversation turned into an explicit threat: “I’m going to contact military intelligence to come get you.” » Then he went beyond words to action and held the judge’s hand, not to shake his hand or out of respect, but rather in a painful and threatening squeeze, saying, “I’m going to break it… get out… you are our guest today.”

Sadiq Al-Zaidi did not stop at the limits of physical threats. On the contrary, he dared, in front of witnesses, to insult the entire judiciary, judge and college, by uttering insulting statements that exude ignorance and carelessness, describing judges as “thieves, crooks, fraudsters and corrupt people”, so that the incident went from a personal attack to a public insult against the entire judicial institution and a direct insult to the State before becoming an insult to power judicial.

These statements were not the result of a moment of anger, but rather the continuation of hidden hatred in the context of a case that the same judge had investigated before 2015, linked to an illegal search and seizure of the attacker’s liberty. This behavior was revenge against someone who had done their duty, not an accidental argument or a passing misunderstanding.

The Yemeni Judges Club considers what happened to be a crime in its own right, a blatant attack on the judiciary, its role and sanctity, and an act that affects judicial and social peace and undermines the population’s confidence in the law. An attack on a judge is an attack on the scales of justice as a whole, and if justice is insulted, there is no balance for the nation and no security for the people. From this point of view, the club affirms that what happened cannot be passed over in silence or treated as an accident, and that the protection of the judiciary is a duty of the State in which laxity or courtesy is not acceptable, and that the silence of the competent authorities is considered undeclared complicity and encouragement for those who dare to insult the institutions of the State.

Accordingly, the club demands – in a clear tone that is not open to interpretation – that the so-called Sadiq Muhammad Al-Zaidi be arrested immediately, that he be suspended from office, that an urgent and courageous investigation be opened and that he be brought to dissuasive legal responsibility, so that everyone understands that the judiciary is not an orphan, that its prestige is not likely to be affected or compromised and that anyone who attacks the judges attacks the state itself.

The club holds the Ministry of the Interior and the Public Prosecutor’s Office fully responsible for protecting judges, preserving the sanctity of the judiciary and preventing the repetition of dangerous practices that threaten the pillars of justice and society.

The club submits this declaration to the leaders of the State and to public opinion, and to all those who have in their hearts zeal for the law, so that everyone may know that justice is not insulted, that judges will not have their arms broken nor their prestige shattered, and that the prestige of the judiciary is the last vestige of the prestige of the State, and if it falls, everything collapses.

Yemen Judges Club
4 Joumada al-Akhirah 1447 AH – November 25, 2025 AD

Yemen