Yemen’s Houthi rebels have released model Entisar al-Hammadi after nearly five years in prison, her lawyer and a security source told AFP on Sunday.

Hammadi, 23, was arrested in February 2021 in Sanaa while heading to a photo shoot and sentenced to five years on charges of prostitution, drug abuse, and fornication, allegations her lawyer and rights groups have described as false and targeting women’s liberties.

"Entisar al-Hammadi was released yesterday evening and is now in her home," her lawyer, Khaled al-Kamal, told AFP. "Entisar suffered from various illnesses, and her condition had deteriorated as a result of the injustice she suffered." Rights groups reported that she had attempted to take her own life in 2021.

Born to a Yemeni father and Ethiopian mother, Hammadi had worked as a

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