Houthis issue death sentences after 10 minute mass trial

Seventy Yemeni civilians were killed by the Houthis and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh whilst in detention, Al Arabiya reported the internationally backed government saying.

Thirty-six people were arrested by the Houthi-Saleh alliance only to allegedly be subjected to torture and treated in inhumane and degrading means and methods.

Lawyers, university professors and journalists were among those arrested and bought to court for trial in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen.

Yemen’s Ministry of Human Rights called the trials “farcical”, as the defendants were issued death sentences within ten minutes of the trial beginning. The judge refused to investigate and listen to the defendants’ claims that they were tortured or allow them to defend themselves against claims that they supported a coup against Saleh and the Houthi group.

The Houthis have arrested 10,000 Yemenis in the areas under their control to the north of the country.

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