Dr Ali Al-Dair, also known as Ali Al-Dailami, is a prominent Yemeni human rights defender and president of the Yemen Organisation for the Defence of Rights and Democratic Freedoms. He has faced years of harassment and violence due to his peaceful advocacy. On 14 December 2010, he was beaten by riot police during a peaceful sit-in in Sana’a. In April 2012, following his return from a human rights conference in Cairo, he was interrogated for several hours at Sana’a airport, his passport was repeatedly confiscated and he was subsequently banned from travelling. On 31 March 2014, he was again prevented from leaving the country, and on 25 August 2014, gunmen opened fire on his car near his home. On 25 January 2017, Dr Ali Al-Dair was violently assaulted by Houthi security personnel at a checkpoint near the Ministry of Interior, during which he was beaten in the chest for around 30 minutes and threatened with severe reprisals.