Amnesty International on Thursday condemned the "shameful" death sentence for espionage handed to journalist Yahya al-Jubaihi by by Houthi rebels in control of the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
“The Houthis’ shameful death sentence, after a flagrantly unfair trial, against journalist Yahya al-Jubaihi must immediately be quashed," Amnesty said in a statement.
The rights group called for a retrial for Jubaihi under international fair trial standards and urged for him to be spared the death penalty.
Amnesty also said it was "deeply worried about 10 other journalists detained by Houthi forces without charge or trial for nearly two years, access to lawyers and contact with their families.
"If they are not promptly charged with recognisably criminal offences and prosecuted in fair trials, they must be released without delay,” Amnesty said.
Jubaihi on Wednesday became the first journalist to be sentenced to death in Yemen.
The Houthi court accused Jubaihi of communicating with Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces and helping Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi’s government carry out killings and attacks in Houthi-held areas of Yemen.
The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency said Jubaihi was also accused of establishing contacts with enemy states and sending reports that endangered Yemen on military, economic and political levels, Arabic satellite TV network Al-Arabiya reported.
Al-Arabiya quoted Yemeni sources as saying that the verdict was "surprising" as there was no prior trial and Jubaihi was not given the right to appoint a lawyer to defend him.
The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate issued a statement condemning Jubaihi's death sentence, calling the verdict “heinous” and “unconstitutional,” Al-Arabiya said.
Jubaihi was abducted from his home in Sanaa after Houthi militias stormed his office in September last year.
Since the conflict began in Yemen after the attempted coup by Houthi militias against Hadi’s government in September 2014, various abductions of journalists and activists in Sanaa have been reported.
Amnesty reports have documented how the Houthis and allied forces, including army units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have arbitrarily arrested and detained journalists, human rights activists, critics and opponents as well as members of Yemen's minority Bahai community.
Scores of people have been subjected to enforced disappearances, according to Amnesty.
