The authorities in Iran are preparing to carry out the execution of a female protester, Bita Hemmati, in connection with recent nationwide demonstrations. She is reportedly among approximately 1,600 people sentenced to death in the past year following protest-related cases.
According to a statement from the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Hemmati would be the first woman executed in relation to the protests that began in January and were later suppressed by security forces.
She has been accused by authorities of offenses including the use of explosives and weapons, throwing objects such as concrete blocks, taking part in protest gatherings, and disrupting national security. Her husband, Mohammadreza Majid Asl, along with two other men identified as Behrouz and Kourosh Zamaninezhad, were also sentenced to death. The group reportedly lived in the same apartment building and was convicted after what their supporters describe as a rushed trial, with their property also confiscated.
A fifth individual, Amir Hemmati, a relative of Bita Hemmati, received a prison sentence of nearly six years on charges including “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the state.”
The defendants were accused by Iranian authorities of carrying out “operational action for the hostile government of the United States and hostile groups,” according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
All of those involved were arrested in Tehran, which was a central location for some of the largest protests against the government. No execution date has been announced.
The NCRI has called on the United Nations and international human rights organizations to intervene and help prevent the executions of political prisoners and others detained during the unrest.
The protests began after local strikes by shopkeepers and market merchants in Tehran in late December. Within days, demonstrations spread across the capital, and by January had expanded into a nationwide movement involving students and other groups.
During the government crackdown, thousands of protesters were reportedly killed or injured, and tens of thousands were arrested or detained.