Clergyman warns against stalking the streets

A Yemen religious scholar warned on Monday against self-imposed people patrolling the streets with the claim of promoting virtue and preventing vice.

“We warn against people who hide under the cloak of promoting virtue and preventing vice for achieving other our goals," said Yahya Al-Najar, member of the Yemeni Scholars' Association and chairman of the Department of Guidance in the ruling party.

“The promotion of virtue and prevention of vice is done in the mosques, not in the streets. The people who want to turn this to the streets with sticks are corrupt," said the clergyman.

“Those people were extremists and hardliners and they were very stiff to the degree that it made people turn away from them,” he said. The statements came after individuals in some Yemeni cities, namely Aden and Hodiedah, recently started to impose restrictions on people’s liberties under the pretext of preserving morality.

Such individuals seem to have been given the green light to do so from a group of Salafi extremist scholars who have been trying to establish an authority for what they called the "promotion of virtue and prevention of vice," similar to the “moralilty police” with the same title in Saudi Arabia.  

The calls which were released by an extremist group of the Islamist opposition party, Islah, were faced by strong criticisms from human rights and liberties groups, as well as by activists, journalists and also from moderates of the Islah party.

Related Content

•  Somali pirates free hijacked Yemeni cargo ship
•  Zandani declares solidarity ship to break Gaza blockade
•  Capital punishment expected for murderer of Sayoun judge
•  Yemeni child bride, winner of Glamour's woman of the year accuses her lawyer of corruption
•  Political rallies met by strong opposition - and strong apathy
•  Hamdan Released to Yemeni Authorities
•  Prime Minister launches Arab fisheries conference
•  Yemeni athletes win 47 medals at the Dubai Special Olympics
•  AL-Salem Jews transfer electoral home to Sana'a
•  Fears over electoral registration process increase due to disruptions by demonstrators