Iran sentences detained mother to death without legal counsel

Maryam Hodavand, a woman held in Evin Prison following her arrest during the December 2025/January 2026 uprising, has been sentenced to death by a Tehran revolutionary court in connection with a mosque fire that killed two people.

Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Afshari, issued the sentence in relation to the fire at the Seyyed al-Shohada mosque in Pakdasht, Tehran Province.

The verdict was handed down while Hodavand was denied access to legal representation.

An informed source told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN): “Maryam Hodavand, approximately 40 years old and the mother of two children, was arrested by security forces in Tehran Province during the Dey 1404 [2025/2026] uprising. She is currently held in the women’s ward of Evin Prison and was sentenced to death approximately 10 days ago, in connection with the fire at the Seyyed al-Shohada mosque in Pakdasht and the deaths of two people in that fire, while being denied the right to legal representation.”

Following an appeal against the sentence, her case has been referred to Branch Nine of the Supreme Court.

No information has been made public regarding the precise circumstances of her arrest or the course of legal proceedings against her.

The sentencing comes amid a sharp escalation in executions of those detained during the 2025/2026 protests. Eight people arrested in connection with the uprising have been executed in recent weeks.

Source: kurdistanhumanrights.org, Staff, April 29, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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