Yemen’s Houthis have begun procedures to lift the parliamentary immunity from 12 members of the Yemeni Parliament loyal to the internationally recognised government, paving the way for their trial on charges of collaborating with the Saudi-led Arab coalition.

Yemen’s Saba news agency reported that the Parliament in Sanaa, headed by Yahya Al-Rai, on Saturday received a letter from the Minister of Justice in the Houthi government that included lifting the immunity of 12 parliamentarians on charges of spying.

The agency added that the parliament has “approved the referral of the letter to the Committee for Constitutional and Legal Affairs for consideration and to report on it at a future session.”

Last September, the Houthis sentenced 35 parliamentarians loyal to the government to death and the seizure of their assets.