Iran is preparing to carry out the execution of what will be the first woman sentenced to death in connection with the country’s recent wave of anti-government protests, according to opposition sources. The case is part of the tyrannical regime’s approximately 1,600 people handed death sentences by the Islamic Republic over the past year, reports The new York Post.
Bita Hemmati has been identified as the first female facing execution tied to the demonstrations that erupted nationwide in January and were forcefully suppressed by state authorities. According to a Tuesday statement from the opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), she faces multiple accusations, including the use of explosives and weapons, throwing objects such as concrete blocks, participating in protest gatherings, and “disrupting national security.”
Hemmati’s husband, Mohammadreza Majid Asl, 34, along with two other men, Behrouz and Kourosh Zamaninezhad—residents of the same apartment building—were also sentenced to death following what critics describe as a rushed trial. Authorities additionally ordered the confiscation of their property.
A fifth individual, identified as Hemmati’s relative Amir Hemmati, received a prison sentence of nearly six years. He was convicted of “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the regime.”
All five were arrested in Tehran, a focal point of the country’s largest anti-regime protests. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that Iranian authorities accused the group of carrying out “operational action for the hostile government of the United States and hostile groups.”
As of now, no date has been announced for Hemmati’s execution.
“The Iranian Resistance once again calls on the United Nations, relevant international bodies, and human rights defenders to take immediate action to save the lives of prisoners sentenced to death, especially political prisoners and those detained during the uprising,” the NCRI said in a statement.
The unrest that led to these arrests was initially sparked by localized strikes involving shopkeepers and market traders in Tehran in late December, which quickly expanded into broader demonstrations across the country.