Iranian officials are moving forward with plans to execute Bita Hemmati, who has become the first woman to receive a death sentence linked to recent anti-government demonstrations that took place in Tehran during late December and January, the National Council of Resistance of Iran announced.
Hemmati joins three other protesters who have been condemned to death for their participation in the demonstrations. The group includes her spouse, Mohammadreza Majidi Asl, along with Behrouz Zamaninezhad and Kourosh Zamaninezhad. The resistance council reports that all four were taken into custody during the Tehran uprising and endured questioning and torture before receiving their sentences.
Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, under Judge Iman Afshari’s supervision, handed down the convictions for all four defendants, the National Council of Resistance of Iran reported. The court also mandated the seizure of their entire estates along with the death penalties.
Iran’s judicial system brought multiple accusations against the group, claiming they engaged in “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.”
Officials further claimed the defendants worked to undermine national security while collaborating with “hostile groups,” and distributed materials intended to threaten security.
A fifth person involved in the case, Amir Hemmati, received a prison term of almost six years. His convictions centered on “assembly and collusion against national security and propaganda against the regime.”
These pending executions occur as Iran dramatically increases its use of capital punishment. The resistance council’s statement indicates the government has executed 1,600 people during the past year.
Officials have not yet revealed when the four condemned prisoners will be executed.
