Iran: Two women face the death penalty after anti-government protests, one of them a mother of two

Two women have been sentenced to death by Iranian courts for their involvement in anti-government protests held in January, human rights organizations say.

Taraneh Rahimi, 20, and Leila Abolhasani, 43, were found guilty in two separate trials related to demonstrations in Isfahan, which peaked on January 8 and 9.

Rahimi was sentenced to death along with nine other men over events that took place in a city square, where two people were killed, including a member of the security forces. The Hengaw and HRANA organizations reported that other defendants, including Rahimi’s sister, Romina, were sentenced to prison terms of up to 36 years.

According to HRANA, the defendants’ lawyers were unable to consult some of the case materials and were not given sufficient time to examine the documents and evidence presented at trial.

Leila Abolhasani, who works as a cosmetologist and is the mother of two teenagers, was sentenced over allegations that she had set fire to a shop during a protest. Her family has rejected the claims, saying that she was only recording the fire on her phone. Her case is now before the Court of Appeal.

The Iran Human Rights organization says that, since the start of the war with the United States, Iranian authorities have executed 29 men on charges related to the protests. So far, no woman has been executed for such offenses, while at least 16 women have been executed for other criminal offenses.

In April, U.S. President Donald Trump called on Iranian authorities to release eight women who were reportedly at risk of execution. Subsequent reports indicated that some of them had not been sentenced to death, while others had been released.

Among them was Bita Hemati, who had been sentenced to death on charges of throwing concrete blocks from a rooftop toward security forces. HRANA later reported that her sentence had been overturned.