Yemeni leftist claims death threats

Yemeni leftist Samia Aghbari has confirmed to Arabstoday that she has received death threats. The Socialist Party member attributed the threats to what she called an “inflammatory campaign” against her, referring to a lawsuit filed by members of the young Reform Party [affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood] on charges of insulting Islam. Aghbari, one of the central female figures in youth uprisings against the regime of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011, denied the charges and called on the Reform Party to clearly define its position when allegedly using religion as pretext for repression, while also launching defamation campaigns against civil rights activists inside Yemen. She claimed such actions to be a "natural expansion" of a systematic campaign targeting Yemeni activists and inciting murder. Aghbari expressed fears for the future of freedom in the country, telling Arabstoday that young people in Yemen would not accept failure in their "dream" pursuit of a civil state.