Libi Marhabi

Extra Bio Info:

Libi Marhabi is imprisoned for his religious identity. 

In March 2016, Houthi forces arrested Marhabi for allegedly smuggling an ancient manuscript out of Yemen.

On March 13, 2018, Marhabi was sentenced to three years and six months in prison.

In 2019, a Houthi appeals court ordered Marhabi's release. However, security forces only released his non-Jewish co-defendants and have instead kept him detained, despite subsequent court orders demanding otherwise. 

According to sources, Marhabi lives in inhumane prison conditions, where his health continues to deteriorate. He reportedly suffers from kidney and lung issues and has lost all his teeth from being tortured repeatedly.

In November 2020, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for Marhabi's immediate release.

In October 2023, after the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel, the Houthis reportedly placed Marhabi in a more dangerous prison ward with extremist prisoners who threatened him. After a ten-day hunger strike in protest of this new placement, Marhabi was placed in solitary confinement.

In May 2024, Marhabi reportedly grew physically ill living in inhumane and poor living conditions. Interlocutors report that Marhabi continues to deny Libi any contact with his family and that Houthi prison authorities have repeatedly withheld food, subjecting him to physical beatings, electrical shocks, and hours-long interrogations.

In September 2024, it was reported that Marhabi is in solitary confinement and is in poor health.