Iran to execute first woman linked to mass protests after ‘forced confessions’

Bita Hemmati and three others have been sentenced to death for 'collusion' and 'propaganda.' Advocates claim the charges are baseless, citing a secretive process and state-televised interrogations.

Iranian authorities are preparing to execute Bita Hemmati, the first woman sentenced to death in connection with the mass protests in Tehran in late December and January, according to the US-based non-profit the Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Judge Iman Afshari, of Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, sentenced Hemmati, her husband, Mohammadreza Majidi Asl, and Behrouz Zamaninezhad, and Kourosh Zamaninezhad to death on the charge of “operational action for the hostile government of the United States and hostile groups,” in addition to discretionary imprisonment period of five years on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security.”

A fifth defendant, Amir Hemmati, was sentenced to five years of discretionary imprisonment on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security,” and eight months in prison for “propaganda against the regime,” according to HRANA.

The four sentenced to death were arrested while demonstrating in Tehran and subjected to torture before their sentencing, according to a press release by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. HRANA also purported to have received evidence that the defendants were forced to confess.

The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center released a statement stating it believed Hemmati was the woman who was interrogated by judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohsen Ejei on state television in January.

"The recording and broadcasting of forced confessions from defendants in an opaque process ... constitutes a blatant violation of the defendant's rights," it said.

Charges include use of explosive weapons, harming security forces

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."

However, HRANA claimed to have obtained a copy of the verdict, which failed to detail how the defendants were involved in the allegations.

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.

No execution date has been announced for the four prisoners.

The planned executions come amid a broader increase in capital punishment in Iran. According to a report by Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (EPCM), the regime carried out at least 1,639 executions over the past year.

Death sentences have been issued against at least 26 other people arrested over the January protests, and at least seven have already been killed.

Source: post.com, Danielle Greymann-Kennard, April 16, 2026

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