SANAA, April 13 (Xinhua) -- A Yemeni security court here under control of Iranian-allied Shiite Houthi movement sentenced Wednesday a veteran journalist to death over charges of spying for neighboring Sunni Saudi Arabia, Houthi-controlled state Saba news agency reported on Thursday.
Yahya al-Jubaihi, 61, was convicted of "illegally establishing contact with a foreign state which is Saudi Arabia and providing its diplomats in Sanaa with reports that posed harm to Yemen's army, political position and economy in return for 4,500 Saudi riyals (1,200 U.S. dollars) from Riyadh since 2010," Saba reported.
The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, however, strongly condemned the heavy sentence against al-Jubaihi, saying he was a well-known veteran journalist across Yemen, and accusing Houthis of "targeting the freedom of the press."
The Houthis ousted Saudi-backed internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and seized control of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, in September 2014.
Saudi Arabia led a military coalition and intervened in the Yemeni conflict since March 2015 via an air campaign.
The campaign is attempting to restore power to expelled President Hadi and his government. So far, some 10,000 Yemenis have been killed in the air campaign and ground battles, with three million others displaced.
