10-year jail terms for two Yemenis and an Omani who supported Houthi rebels

The men were found guilty of providing the rebels with chemical substances, tools, and communication devices. Three other Yemenis were acquitted of all charges.

ABU DHABI // Two Yemenis and an Omani were each jailed for 10 years by the Federal Supreme Court for aiding Houthi rebels in Yemen.

They were convicted of supplying the rebels with chemicals, tools and communication devices.

Forty-one-year-old Yemeni businessman Abdullah Mohamed Atiyah was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined Dh1 million for managing Houthi-owned funds.

He founded Safinat Al Sahraa General Trading in Dubai for that purpose and made investments to help fund the rebels.

The court ordered the closure of the company and the seizure of its funds.

Abdulmalek Mohamed Al Mokhnaqi, a 40-year-old Yemeni, and Ghulam Abdullah Al Bulooshi, an Omani, were also imprisoned for supplying the Houthis.

Yemenis Salah Salem Mahjoub, 36, Fadel Ahmed Al Jareidi, 41, and Abdulrahman Mohamed Al Sayad, 34, were all acquitted of the charges against them.

Defence lawyers argued that they were accused of committing the crimes in June 2014, before the UAE listed the Houthis as a terrorist group.

The court also ordered that the men be deported after completing their prison terms.