Houthi rebels execute nine in Yemen over official’s killing

Sanaa - The executions, including that of a 17-year-old, take place despite human rights organisations' accusation of a flawed trial

Yemen’s Houthi militias executed on Saturday nine people they said were involved in the killing of a senior rebel official in an airstrike more than three years ago.

The execution took place by firing squad and was held in public, early in the morning in the rebel-held capital of Sanaa. The Iranian-backed Houthis distributed photos apparently showing the killings. Hundreds of people attended the execution, mostly Houthis and their supporters.

The executions took place despite repeated calls by rights groups and lawyers to stop the killings and retry the suspects. They said the trial, held in a rebel-controlled court where the nine were convicted and sentenced to death, was flawed.

The nine were among more than 60 people the Houthis accused of involvement in the killing of Saleh Al Samad in April 2018. Former President Donald Trump was also accused, according to court documents.

The Houthis charged the nine of spying for the Saudi-led coalition, which supports Yemen’s government.

The nine, including a 17-year-old boy, were arrested months after Al Samad’s killing. They had been forcefully disappeared for months in undisclosed places where they suffered inhuman treatment, according to Abdel-Majeed Sabra, a Yemeni lawyer representing one of the people executed.

The executions were also broadcast on big screens in Sanaa’s Tahrir Square. The executions and their display caused outrage across the country, including among the relatives of the nine and also in Sanaa, where people refrain from criticising the rebels for fear of reprisals.

“What I would say. I can’t believe what has happened. This is madness and a crime,” Abdel Rahman Noah, a brother of one of the executed, said.

Another relative said she did not expect the Houthis to go through with the executions. “We were shocked. ... We thought that they were just threatening,” she said tearfully, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from the rebels.

The rebels did not respond to requests for comment.

The nine wore sky blue prison garb with their hands bound behind their backs. Masked guards led them to an open area and forced them to lie down on their stomachs. Another officer with a rifle shot them to death in their backs.

One of the executed appeared scared while awaiting his turn to be shot; an armed Houthi was seen holding him tight, perhaps so that he would not fall.

Several rights groups, including the US-based American Center for Justice, which follows human rights abuses in Yemen, had called on Friday for the UN to intervene to stop the executions. The groups said the trial had “included flagrant violations of fair trial guarantees and depriving individuals of providing sufficient defences”.

• MENA