Two jailed Yemeni YouTubers and producer pardoned by Houthis

SANAA — Two Yemeni YouTubers and a producer jailed by Houthi rebels for publishing videos critical of the Iran-backed insurgents have received pardons, according to the group's official media.

The trio, who were sentenced last month along with a third YouTuber, were pardoned by the Houthi's political leader, Mahdi Al Mashat, the SABA news agency said.

The Houthis, who follow an austere form of Shiite Islam, seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention and fighting that has devastated the country.

YouTubers Mustafa Al Mawmari and Ahmad Hajar had been sentenced by a Sanaa court to 18 months and 12 months respectively at a court, while producer Hammoud Al Mesbahi received a six-month term.

There was no mention of Ahmad Elaw, a third YouTuber sentenced alongside the trio in March, who was jailed for three years, the longest sentence.

In December, Hajar was the first of the group to be detained after he accused the Huthis of "robbing the Yemeni people", in a video watched around half-a-million times.

The group was charged with "spreading misinformation", "harming public interest", and "inciting the masses to commit acts of chaos", according to court documents seen by AFP when they were sentenced.

Each of them was also ordered to pay a fine of nearly $20,000, their lawyer said at the time.

Yemen's war has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, both directly and indirectly, and pushed the nation to the brink of famine.

Meanwhile, the Houthis have increasingly limited individual liberties, including free speech and the movement of women in areas they control.

Court documents had said the YouTubers' influence was seen as "serving the aggression... against Yemen" by the Saudi-led coalition.

The four men were sentenced a day after Houthi-controlled media released videos of them renouncing their earlier criticisms, prompting a strong reaction from some Yemenis who suspected the statements were coerced.