Imperialistic Fanatics With Military Backing Outlaw Chinese Food in Sana’a
The Talibanization of Yemen
Vice and Virtues Police Asserts their Unofficial Power in Yemen
YemenOnline- July 04, 2008- An Islamic police force has raided and shut down many restaurants around Sana’a. On July 3, China Town restaurant was stormed by armed soldiers and bearded religious zealots. Eyewitnesses say that the restaurant owners and patrons were forced on the street while the soldiers destroyed alcohol bottles inside. The gates of the restaurant were shut and the establishment was closed down. Now, there is a sign spray painted on the wall, saying “closed by the authority of the District Attorney and the Hadda Police.” Our legal expert tells us that not only does the district attorney have no authority to shut down the restaurant, but that the Hadda police had no right to even search the place.
Beijing Cuisine, a popular Chinese Restaurant, was also stormed. “Fifteen soldiers with AK-47s and two bearded men came and searched every room… even the bathrooms” Michael Jee, manager of Beijing Cuisine. They came unannounced and with no search warrant or legal papers of any sort. The soldiers found nothing and left the restaurant with only a warning.
Through pressure from Abdul-Majeed al-Zindani and his close supporters, the government entertained the idea of a Vice and Virtues police force that would crack down on un-Islamic behavior. However, the government has yet to instate the police force, meaning that shutting down restaurants on religious grounds has no legal basis. Through the use of armed force, the police are acting above the law and circumventing the judicial processes to lawfully close a business.
Similar events have happened in Aden and Hudaida. The Vice and Virtues police were briefly in operation, but they were quickly taken out of practice by the government. These cities are known to have a more powerful fundamentalist influence. The fact that the Islamic police have now appeared in Sana’a shows the rise in conservative power, even though the Islamic police force is not yet legitimate.
The judiciary has not overturned the illegal closures and the government has yet to acknowledge any involvement.
A number of Chinese restaurants were forced to close by prosecution officials of Sana’a Secretariat last Thursday July 3.
“The main Chinese restaurant ‘ China Town,’ located near Shumila Hari Supermarket in the diplomatic zone and its 7 branches in Al-Sabeen and Al-Wehda districts in the capital, were shut down for selling alcohol publicly, said Abdul Hamid al-Harazi, a member of the Al-Sabeen district local council.
Al-Harazi affirmed that the Prosecution Office for the South West quarter of Sana’a was the authority that enforced the closure but he did not deny that the new established religious organization ‘Vice and Virtue’ played a role in encouraging it.
Eyewitnesses said that the prosecution officials accompanied by a large number of policemen broke into the Chinese restaurant and closed it while some bearded men were vowing Allah Akabr ‘God is greater.’ The restaurant owners expressed outrage that they were not warned or given any notice prior to the closure.
Abdul Gabar al-Hashidi, a member of Al-Sabeen district local council said that a number of citizens, particularly the neighbors of the Chinese restaurant complained several times about the Chinese restaurant for selling alcohol to teenagers.
He added that the complaints were varied as some of them were about the noise and chaos being emitted by drunken patrons exiting the restaurant. Other citizens complained that some drunken teenagers had fired gunshots at the houses and the cars parking in Hada area because they were so intoxicated.
The head of the police in Hada area, Hassan al-Sheikh affirmed that the prosecutor asked him officially to deploy some policemen to close the Chinese restaurant last Saturday.
Meanwhile Sheikh Hamoud al-Tharihi denied that the Vice and Virtue organization had contributed in closing the restaurants. Al-Tharihi stated to News Yemen website that they did not participate in the closure operation restaurants because a republican decree for establishing Vice and Virtue as an organization had not been indorsed yet. However, he did welcome the closure of the restaurants.
The new religious organization known as Vice and Virtue was established 2 months ago when Sheikh Abdul Majeed al-Zindani and Shiekh Hamoud al-Tharihi and other sheikhs called on the president and the government to establish a religious organization composed of religious men and the police authorities. However little has been revealed about the aims of this organization.
Some newspapers had published reports about some religious groups in Hodeidah Governorate interfering in the affairs of civilians and arresting and detaining people for drinking alcohol or practicing adultery. This was the first unofficial appearance of the Vice and Virtue group in Yemen. Its role in closing the Chinese restaurants may be the first instance of Vice and Virtue activity in the capital Sana’a.
Some sources stated that the black market price of a can of beer rose from YR 1200 to YR 2000 following the closures.
Alcohol has long been sold illegally and secretly in most Yemeni cities including the capital. It is illegal in Yemen.
