The Governor of Hodeidah, Muhammad Ayash Qahim, praised on Monday the efforts of the Committee for the Follow-up and Protection of Fishermen’s Cases and its active role in following up the release of 13 fishermen who had been detained for five months in Sudan.
Fishermen were kidnapped when their boat broke down at sea and imprisoned by the Port Sudan authorities. They were released after the Fishermen’s Protection Committee assigned a lawyer there and the Zakat Authority paid the fines it ruled against them despite not having committed any violations.
Governor Qahim, during a reception of the released fishermen, along with a number of leaders of the Fisheries and Zakat Authority, praised the General Authority for Zakat for ensuring the financial fines that were imposed on them and for giving their families care and attention during the detention period.
The kidnapping and imprisonment of fishermen in Sudan was considered a crime, especially since they were looking for a living, and their involvement in any transgressions was not proven, except that they work in the fishing profession to obtain the livelihood of their families.
While the deputy head of the General Authority for Fisheries in the Red Sea, Muhammad Al-Omeisy, explained that the fishermen were released with joint cooperation and coordination between the Fisheries Authority, the leadership of the province, the Zakat Authority and its office in the governorate, and the Fishermen Support Fund Committee.
For his part, Deputy Director of the Office of the General Authority for Zakat in the province, Muhammad Al-Was’, confirmed that the fishermen were followed up and their families were taken care of during their imprisonment and kidnapping for more than five months, and the financial fines that were imposed on them by the Port Sudan authority were paid.
In turn, the fishermen explained that their boat had a malfunction while they were fishing in the sea, so they went to their nearest place near Sudan, and they were detained and the boat, their equipment, and everything they owned were confiscated, imprisoned, and a fine of 300,000 Sudanese pounds was imposed on each of them.
They confirmed that they were treated harshly during their imprisonment and that they carried out hard labor, despite the critical health condition that some of them suffer from.
They appreciated the efforts of the governorate’s leadership, the Zakat and Fisheries Authority, the Committee for the Follow-up and Protection of Fishermen’s Cases, and everyone who contributed to following up their case until their release, payment of financial fines, and their arrival to their families.
Source: Yemen News Agency