A female detainee – Bita Hemmati – could be the first woman killed by Iran for alleged crimes during the January protests that spread across the country, it is understood
The Iranian regime is set to execute four protesters, including a woman believed to be the first female detainee to be killed by Tehran.
Iran has continued to crackdown on people involved in the January protests which saw people in cities across the country take to the streets to hit back against the repressive government. The Tehran Revolutionary Court announced four people who were arrested after the mass uprising have been sentenced to death.
They were named as Bita Hemmati and her husband Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl, and two other people who lived in the same building as the couple, Behrouz Zamaninejad and Kourosh Zamaninejad. Tehran has hanged seven people in connection to the protests and Hemmati is thought to be the first woman to be sentenced to death for the January uprising.
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The four detainees were charged with “operational action for the hostile government of the United States and hostile groups”, according to Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
They were also charged with “assembly and collusion against national security”. This group were also sentenced to five years in Iran’s hell prisons and all of their assets have been confiscated.
A source close to the prisoners’ families, according to HRANA, said: “Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl and Bita Hemmati are a couple living in Tehran, and Amir Hemmati is a relative of the two. Kourosh Zamaninejad and Behrouz Zamaninejad were living in the same residential building, and their arrests took place simultaneously.”
Notorious Iranian judge Iman Afshari claimed the group “injured forces at the scene” and the use of “explosive materials and an unspecified weapons” at protests on January 8 and 9.
The human rights groups claimed information showed the couple and their two neighbours were subjected to pressure during their interrogations and concerns were raised that the group could have been forced into confessions.
Another human rights group also warned about the deadly actions of the Iranian regime. The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said: “Dozens of individuals arrested during the January 2026 protests have been sentenced to death following grossly unfair, fast-tracked trials conducted without due process, access to independent counsel and reliance on torture-tainted forced ‘confessions’ as evidence.”
Protests ignited in Iran on December 28, 2025, and quickly swept across the nation. The regime put an internet blackout in place at the time with reports that thousands of people could have been killed as the regime attempted to supress the uprising.
