AhlulBayt News Agency: Yemen strongly condemned the United States and the United Kingdom for criticizing recent death sentences against individuals convicted of espionage, calling the remarks “blatant and unacceptable interference” in the country’s judicial affairs.
In a statement issued Thursday, Yemen’s Foreign Ministry said Washington and London were meddling in domestic matters after their embassies denounced the rulings.
The ministry stressed that Yemen’s judiciary operates independently and noted that judges had already delivered verdicts in cases involving espionage cells working for foreign governments.
Any attempt by the US, the UK, or other parties to challenge these rulings, the ministry said, constitutes “blatant and unacceptable interference” in Yemen’s internal affairs and undermines judicial independence.
The statement further asserted that the US lacks credibility to lecture other nations on justice or human rights, adding that “its hands are stained with the blood of innocents worldwide,” with particular reference to Gaza, where the US-backed Israeli occupation has killed nearly 70,000 Palestinians since October 2023.
The ministry also claimed that US criticism of the verdicts “proves its involvement in espionage activities against Yemen and its attempts to protect the agents it used for this purpose.”
The condemnation followed statements by the US and UK embassies in Yemen, which described the rulings as “arbitrary” and demanded the immediate release of those convicted.
On Saturday, Yemen’s Specialized Criminal Court in Sana’a sentenced 17 individuals to death for spying on behalf of the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. The executions were ordered to be carried out publicly by firing squad.
The court found the defendants guilty of collaborating with the four governments and supplying intelligence during 2024 and 2025.
Judges said the group recruited others, planted surveillance devices, and provided detailed information on missile sites, storage facilities, and senior officials.
The rulings stated that this intelligence enabled attacks on military, security, and civilian targets inside Yemen, resulting in dozens of deaths and widespread destruction.
The court also sentenced a man and a woman to 10 years in prison in related cases, while acquitting one defendant.
Court documents revealed that Mossad operatives had supplied the group with encrypted communication tools, tracking applications, and covert cameras, and trained them in their use.
These verdicts came weeks after Yemen’s Interior Ministry announced the dismantling of a spy network jointly run by Israel’s Mossad, the CIA, and Saudi Arabia’s General Intelligence Presidency.
Authorities said the network operated from a joint room in Saudi Arabia, coordinating sabotage and intelligence-gathering operations against Yemen.
The ministry added that recruits were trained in Saudi territory by US, Israeli, and Saudi officers in surveillance techniques, reporting methods, and covert procedures.
Mahdi al-Mashat, head of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, said the espionage ring aimed to undermine Yemen’s support for Palestine.
He linked the network’s activities to Yemen’s operations in support of Gaza beginning in November 2023, which targeted ships with Israeli links and struck sites inside the occupied territories.
Yemen has since halted these operations following a fragile ceasefire in Gaza last month.
Meanwhile, Israel and the US have carried out deadly aerial assaults across Yemen in violation of international law and the UN Charter.
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