The Iranian regime is on the brink of executing its first female protester amid the ongoing crackdown on dissent, marking a grim milestone among approximately 1,600 individuals who have faced death sentences over the past year.
Bita Hemmati is poised to become the first woman executed in connection with the nationwide protests that erupted in January, which were swiftly and brutally suppressed by the authorities.
She faces a series of charges, including the use of explosives and weapons, throwing items like concrete blocks, participating in unlawful gatherings, and threatening national security, as detailed in a Tuesday statement from the opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
Her husband, Mohammadreza Majid Asl, 34, along with two other men, Behrouz and Kourosh Zamaninezhad, who shared their apartment building, were also condemned to death after a rapid trial, and their assets were seized.
Another relative, Amir Hemmati, received a nearly six-year prison sentence for “assembly and collusion against national security” as well as “propaganda against the regime.”
The Iranian government has accused them of “operational action for the hostile government of the United States and hostile groups,” according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The group was all arrested in Tehran, which saw the largest national protests against the Iranian regime.
No execution date has yet been given.
“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 protests in Iran were triggered by a series of local strikes by shopkeepers and market merchants in Tehran in late December.
Within two days, it had spread across the capital, and by January, students and other groups had joined a nationwide show of opposition.
Thousands of protesters were reportedly killed or injured, with tens of thousands arrested or detained as part of the government crackdown.
