Yemen: Houthis execute 9 over key leader's killing
September 18, 2021
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said Saturday they executed nine people for their alleged involvement in the assassination of a senior member of the Shiite militant group.
Saleh al-Samad, the former head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, and several escorts were killed in a 2018 airstrike by the Saudi-led military coalition fighting Houthis in Yemen.
He was the highest-ranking Houthi member to be killed by the coalition in the years-long war.
Who were the 9 executed?
The group were among over 60 others Houthis accused of involvement in the killing of al-Samad. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and former US President Donald Trump were among seven others tried in absentia by the Houthi court and also sentenced to death.
Houthis had also accused the nine executed Saturday of spying for the Saudi-led coalition.
Last month, a Houthi top court confirmed the rulings against the nine, including a 17-year-old boy, defense lawyers said.
Months after al-Samad's killing, the nine had been forcefully disappeared and suffered inhumane treatment, according to a Yemeni lawyer representing one of them.
A public execution
Houthi rebels distributed photos apparently showing the fire-squad executions of the nine people.
The public executions were carried out in the rebel-held capital of Sanaa, according to the Shiite militants.
Hundreds of people, mostly Houthi rebels and their supporters, attended the executions, which were also broadcast on big screens early Saturday in Sanaa's Tahrir Square.
Wearing sky blue prison garb, the nine had their hands bound behind their backs as masked guards forced them to lie down on their stomachs before another man shot them.
The executions and their display caused outrage from international rights groups as well as by people in Yemen, including Sanaa, where locals refrain from criticizing the rebels for fear of reprisals.
What is the situation in Yemen?
Since 2014, Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war as Houthis swept across much of the north and seized Sanaa.
The internationally recognized government fled then, and the Saudi-led coalition, which supported the government, entered the war a year later.
The conflict in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people and spawned one of the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
fb/jlw (AFP, AP, dpa)