Yemen's Houthi rebels have referred 12 people to court on charges of spying for the US and Israel, state media reported on Monday.
The 12 people were arrested in a move against an “American-Israeli spy network”, the head of a Houthi prosecution office in Sanaa, Judge Abdullah Zahra, told the Saba news agency. It is claimed the network had carried out espionage and sabotage activities “for decades”, working with people directly linked to the CIA.
In a separate case last month, a Houthi-run court sentenced 17 people to death on charges of spying on behalf of Israel, the US and Saudi Arabia. The court in Sanaa delivered the sentences in a case related to “espionage cells within a spy network affiliated with American, Israeli and Saudi intelligence”.
It said at the time they would be executed by firing squad, and that the executions would be carried out in public as a deterrent and warning. The 17 were accused of working with Israeli Mossad agents and trying to recruit Yemeni citizens.
That “led to the targeting of several military, security and civilian sites resulting in the deaths of dozens and widespread destruction of infrastructure”, according to Yemeni authorities. Two other defendants were sentenced to 10 years in prison, while another person was acquitted in the same case.
Israel has launched repeated air strikes over the past two years against targets in Yemen in response to attacks by the Houthis on Israel. The rebels say they have been acting in solidarity with Palestinians over the war in Gaza.
In the wake of the Israeli attacks, the Houthis launched a widespread campaign of arrests of people they accuse of spying for Israel or the US. The crackdown intensified following an August strike by Israel that killed the Houthi prime minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser Al Rahawi.
