Human rights groups have raised alarm over a sharp rise in capital punishment across Iran. A 23-year-old accounting student named Najmeh Amini has been sentenced to death for blasphemy following a social media post.
Amini is being held in Vakilabad prison in Mashhad. She received her death sentence and a separate prison term exceeding 12 years from two different courts, comprising a revolutionary tribunal and a criminal court.
A source close to the family told the Human Rights Activists in Iran organisation that the capital charge involved ‘sab ol-nabi’, which means insulting the prophet. In the second proceeding, Amini received a sentence of 12 years, six months and one day for acting against national security and spreading propaganda against the regime.
Security forces detained Amini during nationwide protests that took place in January. Those demonstrations faced a crackdown, with thousands reported killed and more than 50,000 arrests recorded by the Hrana news agency.
Last month, Amini released an audio recording from prison appealing for international intervention. She urged the United Nations, lawyers and rights organisations to examine her legal situation.
"I do not want to make a hero out of myself today. I only want one thing: be my voice," Amini said in the recording. She added that she was an innocent young girl with dreams whose family lived in constant fear of losing her.
Rights organisations warn that Tehran is using executions to suppress dissent and instil fear. The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights group stated that authorities have carried out more than 600 executions so far this year.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the rights group, said Amini’s case serves as a grave warning. He stated that sentencing a young woman to death for online expression risks normalising capital punishment for peaceful speech and tests international tolerance.
Under article 262 of Iran’s Islamic penal code, insulting the prophet Muhammad carries the death penalty. Article 263 provides exemptions for statements made without deliberate intent or while intoxicated.
The Iranian newspaper Khorasan reported that Amini told the court she posted the remarks while hallucinating after taking psychedelic mushrooms with friends. Her defence argued the remarks were a slip of the tongue.
The presiding judge rejected the defence argument during the proceedings. Amini’s death sentence is not final and is subject to an appeal before the supreme court of Iran.
