A Houthi-controlled court in Yemen’s capital has convicted 17 people of spying for foreign governments and sentenced them to death, marking the latest escalation in the group’s yearslong crackdown on local staff working with international organisations.

The verdict, issued on Saturday by the Specialized Criminal Court in Sanaa and reported by the Houthi-run SABA news agency, accused the defendants of belonging to “espionage cells within a spy network affiliated with American, Israeli and Saudi intelligence.” The court ordered that the executions be carried out publicly by firing squad.

In addition to the death sentences, the court handed 10-year prison terms to a man and a woman, while another defendant was acquitted.

Abdulbasit Ghazi, a lawyer representing several of those convicted, s

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