A 23-year-old woman, Najmeh Amini, was sentenced to death in Iran for blasphemy over a social media post.
Human Rights groups have raised the alarm about the increasing number of crackdowns on freedom of speech in the country.
Najmeh Amini is an accounting student and was first arrested by security forces during the anti-government protests in January, which left thousands dead. About 50,000 people were arrested in the crackdown by the Iranian regime.
She was arrested again in February by Iran’s cyber police after online monitoring.
A criminal court has not sentenced her to death on charges of sabol-nabi (insulting the prophet) through a social media post. The exact contents of her posts have not been publicly disclosed.
In a separate trial, she was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison for acting against national security and spreading propaganda against the regime.
In an audio recording released last month attributed to Amini, she appeals to human rights groups to review her case.
“I do not want to make a hero out of myself today. I only want one thing: be my voice," she said.
“I am an innocent young girl with so many hopes and dreams. I have parents who are waiting for me. A family that every night, with the fear of losing me, turns their night into morning.”
According to Iran Human Rights in Oslo, the regime has carried out more than 600 executions just this year.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the group, said, “Sentencing a 23-year-old woman to death for what she expressed on social media is an extremely alarming development.
"Although blasphemy carries the death penalty under Iranian law and two men were executed on such charges in 2023, this case risks expanding the use of the death penalty against peaceful online expression.
"The fact that the sentence has been imposed on a young woman adds another serious dimension. Without a strong international response now, we risk seeing a broader use and implementation of death sentences for expression.
"The international community must demand that Najmeh Amini’s sentence be overturned and call for an immediate moratorium on all executions.”
Insulting the prophet is considered a crime punishable by death under Islam’s penal code. The article, however, provides exemptions for statements made while intoxicated or without deliberate intent. Offences can still face up to 74 lashes in certain circumstances.
During court proceedings, Amini said that she posted the remarks while hallucinating after taking psychedelic mushrooms with her friends and said that it was a “slip of the tongue”, according to Iranian outlet Khorasan.
The presiding judge rejected her defence, 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 subject to appeal before the Iranian Supreme Court.
