Activists call for investigation into arrest of pop singer

Local human rights groups have called for an investigation into the brief arrest of a famous singer, reportedly detained for mimicking President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s voice in one of his songs. Mohammed al-Adhroei - known in Yemen for songs lampooning official corruption - was released on 16 June having been held for almost 3 days. “We asked the attorney-general to look into the case and conduct an investigation,” said Khalid al-Anesi, executive director of the National Organisation for Defending Rights and Freedoms, who lambasted the entertainer’s arrest as a violation of the law. “Setting al-Adhroei free isn’t enough. It has become an everyday occurrence for the government to arrest people.” Al-Adhroei, detained on 13 June, said he was in the company of friends when he was abducted by a number of armed men. “I had just returned from Sana’a when armed men approached me and my colleagues near my house,” al-Adhroei told IRIN. “It was too dark for me to recognise them. They pointed their guns at my friends so they wouldn’t think of helping me.” The entertainer went on to recall how the armed men had informed him of their affiliation to the government’s political security apparatus before taking him to a political security prison. “I was locked up in a cramped room for three days,” al-Adhroei recalled. “They told me I had imitated the president’s voice – but I never did.” He affirmed, however, that he had not been subject to any kind of abuse or torture. Meanwhile, al-Adhroei’s detention was roundly criticised at a meeting of local opposition parties, representatives of which called upon the authorities to release the singer and investigate those who arrested him. For his part, al-Adhroei said the incident would not dissuade him from singing about contentious issues. “I didn’t get scared when they arrested me,” he said. “And I’m not afraid now, after what happened to me.” MAJ/SZ/AM