The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights activist Tawakkol Karman has expressed her surprise at some leftists, nationalists and activists who have been against her call for a secular democratic state in Yemen.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Karman strongly criticized those refusing her call for a secular democratic state, noting that they always pretend to be defenders of secular ideas but it has turned out they are not. 

She stressed her conviction that such positions are ultimately in the interests of dictators and enemies of freedom and democracy.