SANAA // A Yemeni court postponed a verdict yesterday in the case of a Saudi woman accused of eloping with her Yemeni boyfriend, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said they needed the time to see if Huda Abdullah Ali, 22, could be registered as a refugee with the UN, which would allow her to remain in the country and marry her boyfriend. She has become a cause célèbre with some youth in Yemen, which is not normally associated with public demonstrations in the name of romance.
Prosecutors say her Yemeni boyfriend, Arafat Mohammed Taher Al Qadi, 25, told investigators that Ms Ali’s father rejected his marriage proposal, and the two were forced to elope. Ms Ali is charged with illegally entering Yemen while Mr Al Qadi is accused of helping her.
“My only demand is to grant Huda humanitarian refugee status so that I can marry her,” Mr Al Qadi said as police led him outside the court. He thanked the people for their support.
The Yemen Organisation for Defending Human Rights, Hood, said they have provided the court with all necessary documents for Ms Ali to be registered as a refugee.
Hood said the interior ministry was refusing to let the UN’s refugee agency see Ms Ali, who is in detention.
The couple’s supporters outside the court chanted, “The sit-in continues until the pair are wed.”
* Associated Press
