A court in Houthi rebels -held Sanaa condemned a human rights rights activist to death accusing her for spying, sparking an uproar in Yemen and abroad against the Iran-backed militia.
Abdul Majeed Sabra, a Yemeni lawyer, told Arab News that the Houthi controlled Court in Sanaa sentenced Ms Fatema Saleh Mohammed Al-Arwali, to death accusing her for gathering military intelligence and sending key Houthi locations to the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen to be bombed.
The Houthi rebels arrested Ms Al-Arwali while she was traveling to the southern city of Aden from Houthi-controlled Taiz. Her family requests to know her whereabouts were ignored and she was barred from legal representation.
Yemeni officials, as well as local and international rights organizations and activists, denounced the death sentence and urged the militia to release Ms Al-Arwali.
Dozens of Yemeni activists, lawyers and academics signed an online petition demanding that the Houthis release the activist, and end its harassment of activists , adding that her lawyer was barred from the courtroom during the first trial session and Al-Arwali was condemned to a lightless underground detention facility for almost a year.
Amnesty International and the Geneva-based SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties in separate statements criticized the death sentence and urged the Houthis to free Al-Arwali.
“Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, without exception, and calls on the Houthis to immediately quash Al-Arwali’s death sentence and ensure she promptly receives a fair trial in line with international standards or is immediately released,” the organization said on X.