By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2025-12-02

Human rights activists condemned the Houthi-affiliated court's death sentencing of 17 people, asserting it exposes the magnitude of the group's atrocities and hypocrisy in the name of justice.

The sentences, they said, show allegiance to foreign entities and a disregard for Yemeni sovereignty, all in service of the Iranian project.

On November 22, a Houthi court in Sanaa issued death sentences by firing squad against 17 people accused of spying for the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.

Houthi media outlets reported that the case involves the leaking of military and security information during the period 2024-2025.

Yemen's Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani described these sentences as sham trials based on fabricated charges and confessions extracted under torture and psychological and physical pressure.

Spreading terror

"What the Houthi militia is doing today is not the application of justice, but rather a brutal display of oppressive force aimed at spreading terror within Yemeni society," deputy Minister of Justice Faisal al-Majeedi told Al-Fassel.

The mass death sentences against 17 citizens based on fabricated espionage charges show the Houthis are using the courts "as a front for political assassinations and internal terrorism," he added.

Under both Yemeni and international law, the procedures are totally invalid due to the deprivation of the right to defense and the reliance on torture-extracted confessions.

"Furthermore, the judicial system under Houthi control is inherently illegitimate," al-Majeedi said

"The group arrests Yemenis for foreign communication while simultaneously receiving political and military directives from Tehran," he said.

He noted that the return of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Abdul Reza Shahlai to Sanaa, and the killing of Hizbullah leader Haytham Ali Tabatabai who trained the Houthis, "serve as clear evidence of the Houthis' subservience to Iran."

Suppressing opposition

"Indicating repression and the spreading of fear, these sentences use public executions to intimidate the population and deter all opposition or criticism," human rights activist Riad al-Dabi told Al-Fassel.

Trials that lack justice standards and rely on charges like espionage and ties to hostile states demonstrate a clear transformation of the judiciary into a tool for revenge, he said.

The Houthis prioritize the Iranian regional agenda over Yemeni interests, he added, noting that "instead of resolving internal crises, the country's resources are being used to project power in the region."

"This hypocrisy severely magnifies the Houthis' loss of legitimacy among a broad segment of Yemenis and the international community, as the group is widely viewed as a tool of a foreign project," he said.