Al Jazeera Net - Private

The deputy dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Economics at Sana'a University, Adnan al-Maqtari, did not believe that the interpretation of the term "coup" for his students in one of his lectures on politics and governance caused the Houthis to attack and try to kidnap him.

The incident took place when the Assistant Political Science Professor came to the podium and explained the systems of governance to political science students. "There are three ways to reach the rule: democracy, succession and coup," the latter said, provoking a number of pro-Houthi students.

Not only did the students disdain the distinguished academic, they even summoned Huthi gunmen working as university guards to punish him for being the target of the Houthi group that took control of the capital Sana'a by overthrowing the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Attempt to kidnap
The Houthis arrived at the college and attacked al-Maqtari. They accused him of being a mercenary and inciting the regime. He called for the revolution in Sana'a and supported the Saudi-Saudi alliance's control over the western city of Hodeidah.

Al-Maqtari told Al-Jazeera Net that what happened was an attempt to kidnap him because he explained the curriculum at the university about the means of access to power. The decision is not new and is being explained annually to students for years.

He added that "the attack comes within the accumulations, most notably attempts to prevent the abduction of female students in the sixth of October last."

According to the spokesman, "there was a reluctance to abduct me forcibly. I was encouraged by the university guard in the college ladder from my office through the peace to the main gate of the college. This happened to my students, colleagues and faculty."

But the students and other academics prevented the abduction of the distillery, the incident has caused a state of tension and anger, and the University's faculty union began legal and official procedures, to restore the academic dignity and the sanctity of the university and the dignity of faculty members.

Faculty of Commerce and Economics at Sana'a University (Communication Sites)

Previous attacks
The attack on Al-Maqtari was not the first of its kind. Sana'a University witnessed similar incidents, including the attack on the Arabic teacher, "Rezin Al-Rassien", on his way to university after criticizing the Houthis.

According to a source in the university faculty union, a similar attack was exposed to one of the university staff of one of the students of the master's degree, and also tried to attack unknown gunmen with white weapons on the head of the union, Dr. Mohammed al-Dhaheri.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that what is happening against academics is a state of continuous terrorism, and the overestimation of education, teachers and everything related to it.

"What happened against Adnan al-Maqtari is not appropriate to deal with a faculty member. He did not respect the university's sanctity. He did not give an estimate of the academicians continuing to carry out their scientific and academic duties to their students despite their difficult circumstances and their lack of salaries and other financial dues."

As for the number of violations against academics at the University of Sana'a, the source pointed out that the dozens without providing a specific outcome, indicating that they range from physical abuse and verbal and arbitrary dismissal and abduction and deprivation of salary.

Adnan al-Maqtari was attacked after he explained to his students that there are three means to reach the rule, namely democracy, inheritance and coup (social communication)

Imprisonment and dismissal
At the beginning of last October, the University of Sana'a University, the Houthi newspaper, arbitrarily dismissed more than 160 academics from the university, most of whom preferred to leave Sanaa for fear of kidnapping.

According to the union source, what happened was injustice and fabrication, and constitutes a disaster against university education, with the aim of emptying the university of its qualified educational cadres.

Among those dismissed, Yusuf al-Bawab, a university professor who has been kidnapped since 2015, was sentenced to death by the State Security Court of the Huthi-linked with 36 kidnappers late last year after being tortured.

During the trial, al-Bawab stated that he was being tortured with the rest of the detainees by the Huthis inside the Political Security Prison. "They tortured us, beat us with iron, suspended us for five days and forced us to drink sewage and rainwater," he said.

According to the statistics of the Association of Mothers of Abducted Women in Yemen (Al-Jazeera Net), the Houthis kidnapped about 630 academics and teachers, and that it has been kidnapped and some of them disappeared for three years without right.