Human rights groups have warned of rising death sentences and executions in Iran after reports emerged of a 23-year-old woman being sentenced to death for blasphemy in a social media post, The Guardian reports.
Najmeh Amini, an accounting student held at Vakilabad prison in Mashhad, has been sentenced to death in one case and more than 12 years in prison in another, following proceedings in a revolutionary court and a criminal court.
A source close to Amini’s family told the US-based Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) that she was sentenced to death on charges of “sab ol-nabi”, or insulting the Prophet.
The Guardian reports that she was arrested following online monitoring by Iran’s Cyber Police, also known as Fata. The content of her posts has not been publicly disclosed.
In the second case, Amini received a sentence of 12 years and six months on charges including “acting against national security and spreading propaganda against the regime”.
She was arrested by security forces during nationwide protests in January. Thousands were reportedly killed during the same crackdown, while HRAI’s news agency Hrana said over 50,000 were arrested.
In an audio recording released recently and attributed to Amini, she appealed to the United Nations, lawyers, and human rights groups to investigate her case and intervene.
“I do not want to make a hero out of myself today. I only want one thing: be my voice,” The Guardian quoted her as saying.
“I am an innocent young girl with so many hopes and dreams,” Amini said. “I have parents who are waiting for me. A family that every night, with the fear of losing me, turns their night into morning.”
Rights groups say Iranian authorities are increasingly using capital punishment to instil fear and silence dissent.
According to the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), more than 600 executions have been carried out in Iran this year, reports The Guardian.
IHRNGO director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam told The Guardian, “Sentencing a young woman to death for what she posted on social media risks normalising the use of the death penalty against peaceful expression and pushing the boundaries of the death penalty even further.”
The authorities were testing the international community’s “tolerance” of capital punishment, he added.
“If the international community does not respond firmly now, cases like this could become far more common,” The Guardian quoted him as saying
Under Article 262 of Iran’s Islamic penal code, insulting the Prophet Muhammad or revered Shia figures is punishable by death. Article 263, however, provides exemptions for statements made while intoxicated or without deliberate intent, although offenders may still face up to 74 lashes in certain circumstances.
According to Iranian newspaper Khorasan, which confirmed the judicial proceedings, Amini told the court she had made the remarks while hallucinating after taking psychedelic mushrooms with friends.
Her defence argued that it was a “slip of the tongue”.
The presiding judge rejected the defence, reportedly asking: “Why, in that same hallucinatory state, did you not insult other individuals or opponents of the regime, such as America and Israel?”
Amini’s death sentence is not final and can be appealed before Iran’s Supreme Court, The Guardian reports.
Her sentencing comes as Iranian lawmakers seek to criminalise contact with all foreign media, including social media posts deemed to be “financed by another country”.
Executions in Iran have surged in recent years, reaching their highest level in three decades. However, death sentences for blasphemy remain relatively rare, The Guardian reports.