Lawyers for an American held prisoner in Yemen’s capital said that their client could be sentenced to death on murder charges at his next hearing scheduled for Wednesday, despite the difficulty of conducting a trial during Yemen’s civil war.

The prisoner, Sharif Mobley, who is from New Jersey, was allowed to make a rare phone call late last month to his lawyers in London telling them that the prison where he was being held in Sana, the capital, had been hit by airstrikes and that he had been repeatedly beaten in custody.

Mr. Mobley was brought before a judge in October without a lawyer and told that a verdict could be passed at his next court hearing.

“They’re going to make a ruling without me being able to defend myself,” Mr. Mobley told his lawyers at Reprieve, an international human rights organization, according to a recording of the call provided by the group. Namir Shabibi, an investigator at Reprieve, said on Monday that the group had found a local lawyer to represent Mr. Mobley at his next hearing, but that they were still concerned that the judge could move directly to sentencing their client without a trial.

Mr. Mobley was arrested in January 2010 in a sweep of suspected militants tied to the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda. He was later charged with murder after being accused of killing a hospital guard during an attempted escape. He is one of several American prisoners who have been held in Yemen.

Since war broke out in March between Houthi rebels and a Saudi-led military coalition backing Yemen’s exiled government, the United States has successfully negotiated the release of at least three Americans held in Yemen. At least one other American, in addition to Mr. Mobley, is believed to remain in custody.

An American official last visited Mr. Mobley in December 2014, Mr. Shabibi said. In the last seven months, he said, his organization had sent several letters to the Obama administration, warning that the prison where Mr. Mobley had been held could be targeted by coalition warplanes and “pleading for basic assistance.” The United States is providing military support to the Saudi-led coalition.

Mr. Shabibi said the group received “perfunctory” responses from the American government and one message from the State Department, asking, “Is Sharif still in Yemen?”

The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Mr. Mobley’s case.

In an emotional call to his lawyers on Oct. 26, Mr. Mobley said that a prison where he had been held was bombed twice by the coalition. “The prison was attacked and many people died, and all of the prisoners escaped except four or five,” including him, he said. Mr. Mobley said he had been beaten by his captors, including the prison manager who hit him in the face with a stick while he was handcuffed.

He told his lawyers late last month that he was being held in solitary confinement. “I can’t really explain everything or else they’re not going to let me make phone calls any more but, I’ve been in leg chains for the last four months,” he said.

Mr. Mobley seemed to know little of the details of what had transpired in Yemen since his last phone call to lawyers, in May, and asked for an “update.”

“In a few words, because I’m afraid for my life, I’m hearing bombs every day, and they’re very close to the prison,” he added.

Sana has been under the control of the Houthi rebels for more than a year and has come under heavy bombing by Saudi warplanes, which have struck military bases, security agencies and government buildings, as well as residential homes. The bombing, along with severe shortages of fuel and electricity, have left Yemeni institutions, including the courts, barely functioning.

It was unclear whether the rebels were directly overseeing prisons or responsible for the decision to press ahead with Mr. Mobley’s prosecution. Several government and security agencies remain effectively in the hands of officials from previous Yemeni governments, including those loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who remains in Yemen and is an ally of the Houthis.

The United States closed its embassy in Yemen in February and has strongly backed the exiled Yemeni government.

During the phone call, Mr. Mobley said his captors were “showing a lot of animosity to me because I’m an American,” and asked for his government’s help.

NY Times