News - Yemen: The Specialized Criminal Division of the Capital on Tuesday issued verdicts in the case of five defendants accused of espionage in favor of Britain.

Presided over by Judge Abdullah Al-Najjar, the court upheld the initial ruling sentencing Ali Mohammed Abdullah Al-Ja’amani, Basim Ali Ali Al-Kharoujah, and Ayman Mujahid Qaid Harish to death after convicting them of collaborating with Britain.

The court also amended the sentence of Arafat Qasim Abdullah Al-Hashidi, commuting his death sentence to 15 years in prison, effective from the date of his arrest. In addition, the appeal submitted by Salim Abdullah Yahya Habish, who was sentenced to death, was dismissed for failure to file it within the legally prescribed period.

The division further upheld the confiscation of seized items related to the case, as stipulated in the sixth clause of the initial ruling.

According to the prosecution, the defendants engaged in espionage activities for Britain between 2018 and 2020, acts deemed harmful to Yemen’s independence. 

The charges state that they joined the ranks of the US-Saudi aggression against Yemen and received intelligence and logistical training from American and British experts, intending to supply the aggression with information, images and data on military positions and sensitive public facilities.

The prosecution stated that these actions caused significant harm to Yemen’s military, political and economic interests.

The verdict comes as Yemeni authorities confirm that Britain and other Western states are directly involved in the aggression on Yemen through intelligence and military support.

Officials say espionage networks have supplied sensitive information used to target the country’s security and infrastructure, stressing that such rulings aim to protect national sovereignty and counter foreign interference amid the ongoing war.