Iran's judiciary on Tuesday dismissed reports that eight women detained over protests that shook the country were at risk of execution, rejecting claims that had drawn international concern.
Judiciary's Response
"The women who were claimed to be on the verge of execution, some of them have been released, while others face charges that, if convictions are upheld, would at most result in imprisonment," the judiciary's official Mizan Online website said, as cited by AFP. The statement also accused former US President Donald Trump of being misled by fake news.
International Reactions
Trump had urged Tehran to release the detainees to facilitate negotiations, even as rights groups say at least one woman has been sentenced to death and another faces charges that could carry the death penalty. The US president had earlier said on social media that releasing the women could work in Iran's favor in negotiations, re-posting an activist's claim that eight women were facing death by hanging.
US-based Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad posted the names of all eight women on her X account, saying they had been detained in connection with the January protests, which activists claim were met with a crackdown that left thousands dead.
Specific Cases
One of those identified, Bita Hemmati, has been sentenced to death along with three men, including her husband, in a case where they are accused of throwing concrete blocks from a residential building onto security forces in Tehran, according to several rights groups. The US-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center said it believes Hemmati is the woman seen in a video broadcast on state television in January being personally interrogated by judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei.
Another woman featured in the images reposted by Trump is Mahboubeh Shabani, 32, who, according to the Norway-based Hengaw rights group, has been charged with the capital offence of “waging war against God” after allegedly using her motorcycle to transport wounded protesters in the northeastern city of Mashhad. She is currently being held in the women’s ward of Vakilabad prison in Mashhad, Hengaw said, expressing “deep concern over the risk of a death sentence in this case”.
