The Media Line: Iran Sentences First Woman to Death Over Protests as Four Face Execution in Tehran Crackdown  

Iran Sentences First Woman to Death Over Protests as Four Face Execution in Tehran Crackdown  

By The Media Line Staff  

Iranian authorities are preparing to carry out the execution of Bita Hemmati, the first woman sentenced to death in connection with the mass protests in Tehran in late December and January, according to a press release by the National Council of Resistance of Iran.  

Hemmati is among four individuals facing execution in relation to the demonstrations. The others were identified as her husband, Mohammadreza Majidi Asl, Behrouz Zamaninezhad, and Kourosh Zamaninezhad. According to the statement, all four were arrested during the uprising in Tehran and subjected to interrogation and torture before being sentenced.  

The National Council of Resistance of Iran said the four defendants were convicted by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Iman Afshari. In addition to the death sentences, the court ordered the confiscation of all their property.  

The charges listed by the Iranian regime’s judiciary included allegedly “using explosives and weapons, harming stationed forces on-site, throwing objects including bottles, concrete blocks, and incendiary materials from the roofs of buildings, destroying public property, participating in protest gatherings, and chanting protest slogans.”   

Authorities also accused them of acting in line with disrupting national security and in connection with “hostile groups,” as well as sending content with the aim of undermining security.   

A fifth defendant, Amir Hemmati, was sentenced to nearly six years in prison. The charges against him included: “assembly and collusion against national security and propaganda against the regime.”   

The planned executions come amid a broader increase in capital punishment in Iran. According to the same statement, the regime has carried out 1,600 executions over the past year.  

No execution date has been announced for the four prisoners.