By Ahmed al-Masri
DOHA, Qatar (AA) – Yemen’s Foreign Minister Abdulmalik al-Mekhlafi condemned on Thursday a ruling issued by a Houthi-linked court, sentencing journalist Yahya al-Jubaihi to death.
In a series of tweets, al-Mekhlafi said the death sentence against the journalist revealed the level of crimes being committed by Houthi militias.
“We call the UN’s Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez, the human rights commissioner and the UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to move urgently to stop this crime,” he said.
“We call for an urgent release of al-Jubaihi and the other detainees from the prisons of Houthi putschists,” he added.
On Wednesday, a court of Houthis had sentenced al-Jubaihi to death for ‘communicating’ with the countries taking part in the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.
Yemeni Journalists Syndicate called on all local and international human rights’ organizations to express solidarity with the journalist to reject this ruling and to stop “the increasing violence being practiced against the press and journalists in Yemen.”
Al-Jubaihi, working as a freelancer for years, had been abducted by Houthis in September 2016.
Since 2014, Houthis kidnapped dozens of journalists on charges of “communicating with foreign countries and supporting the Arab coalition.”
Yemen has remained in a state of civil war since 2014, when the Shia Houthi militia group and allied forces of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh overran the capital Sanaa and other parts of the country.
The conflict escalated a year later when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a major air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi gains and shoring up Yemen’s pro-Saudi government.
