News / Yemen

Yemeni court sentences in absentia Hadi, six aides to death

Saturday, 25 March 2017 5:35 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 25 March 2017 5:36 PM ]

Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, the Saudi-backed president of Yemen who has resigned

A court in Yemen has sentenced Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, the Saudi-backed president who has resigned, and six of his close aides to death on charges of treason and misuse of power.

On Saturday, the Specialized Criminal Court passed the verdict against the 71-year-old Yemeni politician, former Foreign Minister Riyad Yassin as well as Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Civil Service and Insurance Abdulaziz Jabari, Arabic-language Yemen Press News agency reported.

Yemeni Ambassador to the United States Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak, former head of Yemen's national security agency Ali Hassan al-Ahmadi, Deputy Chairman of Yemeni Congregation for Reform (al-Islah) Abdul Wahab al-Ansi and a senior member of the Nasserist Unionist People's Organization were the other four convicts.

The report came as the Yemeni court had been pressing charges of threatening national security against the seven people over giving the green light to the deadly Saudi campaign against the impoverished country back in March 2015.

A general view taken on March 16, 2017 shows a school that was damaged in a Saudi airstrike in the southern Yemeni city of Ta’izz. (Photo by AFP)

Yemen’s Legal Center of Rights and Development announced on Saturday that the Saudi campaign has claimed the lives of over 12,040 Yemenis and left more than 20,000 others wounded.

The center added that there were a total of 2,568 children and 1,870 women among the fatalities, noting that the atrocious onslaught had also destroyed 757 schools and institutes, 111 university facilities, 271 factories besides 1,520 bridges and roads.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk