Iran Moves to Execute First Female Protester Alongside Her Husband in Severe Crackdown
Iran is poised to carry out the execution of its first female protester, Bita Hemmati, together with her husband, Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl, as part of the nation's harsh response to those involved in the January protests. This development marks a significant escalation in the government's crackdown, which has already seen seven individuals hanged in connection with the demonstrations.
Death Sentences Issued by Notorious Judge
On April 14, a Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by the infamous judge Imam Afshari, sentenced four people to death. The condemned include Hemmati and Majidi-Asl, along with two other men, Behrouz Zamaninejad and Kourosh Zamaninejad, who resided in the same Tehran building as the married couple. Hemmati is believed to be the first woman to receive a death sentence related to the protests, which were brutally suppressed, resulting in thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of arrests.
Convictions Based on Alleged U.S. Ties
The four individuals were convicted of carrying out actions on behalf of the United States, according to separate statements from the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center. They had been accused of throwing concrete blocks from a residential building onto security forces in the capital. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center also suggested that Hemmati might be the woman who appeared in a video broadcast on state television in January, being personally interrogated by judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei.
The recording and broadcasting of forced confessions from defendants in an opaque process constitutes a blatant violation of the defendant's rights, the center stated, highlighting concerns over due process.
Rights Groups Condemn Use of Death Penalty as Repression Tool
Human rights organizations accuse the Islamic Republic of using the death penalty as a tool of repression to instill fear in society. There are fears that capital punishment will increase in the wake of conflicts involving Israel and the United States. In a joint annual report released on Monday, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) revealed alarming statistics.
At least 1,639 people have been executed in 2025, including 48 women, the report said. Of these, 21 women were executed for the murder of their husbands or fiancés, with rights groups noting that many were in abusive relationships. This number represents a 68 percent increase from the 975 executions carried out by Iranian authorities in 2024, averaging more than four executions per day.
Highest Execution Rates Since Tracking Began
The report emphasized that the number of executions in 2025 is by far the highest since IHR began tracking it in 2008, and it is the most reported since 1989, during the early years of the Islamic revolution. This surge underscores the government's intensified use of capital punishment as a means of control and suppression.
As Iran continues its crackdown, the international community watches closely, with human rights advocates calling for an end to what they describe as a brutal and unjust system of justice.
