The four journalists detained since 2015 by the Houthis and sentenced to death last April for “spying”, contributed, from Sanaa, to a network of media and pages on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Telegram and WhatsApp linked to the Islah party, the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which holds power in government-controlled areas recognized by the international community
The war in Yemen is between the Houthis, who currently hold the north, including the capital Sana’a, and forces loyal to the government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who was forced from the capital in 2015 and is recognized as the Yemeni president by the United Nations
The fighting in Yemen, the poorest Arab nation, has killed tens of thousands of people and driven millions to hunger. The U.N. calls it the world’s worst humanitarian disaster
A Saudi Arabian-led coalition began bombing Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in support of Yemen’s government in March 2015. Since then, the U.N. estimates, more than 10,000 people have been killed, mostly in airstrikes.