Houthis Sentence 19 to Death for Fighting for Yemen’s Legitimate Govt

A Houthi-controlled court in Yemen has sentenced 19 people to death after their conviction for fighting for the legitimate government. Sunday’s verdict, which can be appealed, came a few days after the Houthis and the government agreed on the largest prisoner swap in the conflict there, in which 1,600 detainees from both sides will be released. The Specialized Criminal Court in the Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, handed down the verdict, according to the Houthi-run Justice Ministry. Four other people received prison terms ranging between two and 10 years, the ministry said in a statement. The defendants were convinced of establishing an armed group that provided support to the legitimate government between 2015 and 2023, the ministry said. They carried out attacks against Houthi-manned checkpoints and security facilities in the southern province of Dhale, it said. The charges against five others were dropped after their deaths, the ministry said without explaining the circumstances. The verdict was the latest in a yearslong crackdown by the Houthis in areas under their control. The militants have imprisoned thousands of people including United Nations staffers, resisting repeated calls for their release. Courts in Houthi-controlled areas previously handed harsh sentences to those accused of collaborating with the government, in trials criticized by rights groups as unfair. In November, a Sanaa court convicted 17 people of spying for foreign governments and sentenced them to death. In September 2021, the militants executed nine people who were convicted of involvement in the killing of a senior Houthi official, Saleh al-Samad, in an airstrike by the Arab coalition in April 2018.