Houthi court sentences death to 17 over foreign spying

A Houthi-controlled court in Yemen’s capital sentenced 17 people to death on the charges of spying for foreign governments, which remained one of the largest verdicts since the group tightened its grip on the country’s north.  

This marks the latest development in which rulings were headed down by the Specialized Criminal Court in the capital Sanaa on Saturday,  according to the Houthi-run SABA news agency.

This has drawn criticism from rights advocates and Yemen’s internationally recognised government.  

Detail of convicts

The defendants were convicted of working as part of the “espionage cells” linked to US, Israeli and Saudi intelligence services.  

The court handed down a death sentence to the firing squad, with the sentences to be carried out in public, which is seen as a warning to others accused of collaborating with foreign states.  

The court also sentenced a man and a woman to 10 years in prison, while another defendant was acquitted.

Allegations and charges

Prosecutors charged the convicts with gathering and passing sensitive information to foreign intelligence officers, including members of Israel’s Mossad.  

The indictment also claimed that the defendants helped recruit other Yemenis and provided targeting data that allegedly enabled strikes on military, dismantling security, and targeting civilian locations.  

Abdulbasit Ghazi, a lawyer representing some of the defendants who were convicted, said the group retains the right to appeal.  

Over the course of the past two years, the rebels have detained dozens in a crackdown focused on the UN and others working for international aid groups and foreign embassies. The rebels repeatedly alleged without evidence they were spies. The UN fiercely denies the accusations.

The sentences come as a major crackdown on individuals suspected of spying, after a series of Israeli airstrikes and the killing of Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi.