[JURIST] A Yemeni appellate court Saturday upheld the capital sentence of a Shia cleric accused of spying for the Iranian government and for supporting an armed rebellion in northern Yemen [JURIST news archive] last year. The case will now go to the Supreme Court of Yemen, which will render a final decision in the death penalty case of cleric Yahya Hussein Al Dailami, as well as the ten year jail term given to alleged accomplice Muhammad Ahmad Muftah. The two were convicted on May 29 of "having contacts with the state Iran with the aim of harming the diplomatic and political position of Yemen," and were also found guilty of "conspiring to overthrow the republican regime." Dailami received the harsher penalty for "mak[ing] contacts with the Iranian state seeking support for an Islamic revolution in Yemen." Dailami is considered a prisoner of conscience by some [IHRC alert], and is an outspoken critic [Yemen Times interview] of the Yemeni government. Deutsche Press Agentur has local coverage.