Yemen’s rebel-run court sentences man to death for spying for Saudi Arabia

SANAA, Oct. 24 — A court controlled by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the capital Sanaa on Tuesday sentenced a man to death for allegedly spying for Saudi Arabia, rebel-controlled Saba news agency reported.
The defendant, a Yemeni Sunni Muslim who is a member of the opposition Islah party (Yemen’s local branch of Muslim Brotherhood), was detained in 2015 on charges of “espionage for Saudi Arabia,” a Houthi official who attended the closed-door trial told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The agency did not identify the defendant, and the Houthi official also refused to give the name of the accused for fears of reprisals.
Tuesday’s ruling was the latest in a series of closed-door trials of political opponents held by the Houthis.
Islah party, one of the country’s largest political parties, joined the Saudi-led coalition’s military campaign in 2015 in a major fight with the Houthis, whom Saudi Arabia accused of receiving support from Iran, the kingdom’s main regional foe.
Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 upon a formal request from Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after the Houthi rebels forced him and his internationally-recognized government into exile.
The Yemeni civil war has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced nearly 3 million others. – XINHUA