Zürcher Nachrichten - 'Do something,' begs Iranian woman after death sentence over protests

The plea by Mahboubeh Shahbani, 33, from her jail in the eastern city of Mashhad comes as the authorities executed two more men on charges linked to the mass January protests.

Rights groups accuse Iran of ramping up executions of high-profile prisoners in a bid to intimidate the population and ensure there is no repeat of the protests, which preceded the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic that erupted on February 28.

"The sentence handed down to me shows that many others are in danger of execution," Shahbani said in a telephone call from the phone for prisoners in Mashhad's Vakilabad prison after her lawyer informed her of the death sentence on September 26.

"I am not worried about myself. I am worried for the others whose sentences have been upheld," she said in the call, an audio recording of which was shared by Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the message. It was punctuated by an automatic voice saying the caller was a prisoner, which is usual practice for calls from Iranian prisons.

"I call on everyone -- the public, the UN, human rights organisations. Not just for me but for all the others whose sentences have been upheld and who have spent months sleeping in fear and stress at night.

"I call on them to do something," she said.

- 'I beg everyone' -

According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Shahbani was convicted of carrying out actions "to strengthen Israel, the US, and individuals affiliated with opposition groups" in the protests.

But IHR said she had merely used her motorcycle to transport injured protesters. It added she had been moved to solitary confinement after making the call from prison.

"Conditions are extremely bad for the prisoners given the pressures they exert on us," Shahbani said in the message. "I beg everyone to do whatever is in their power."

Iran's judiciary earlier announced the hanging in Mashhad of Ali Hemmati and Majid Nik-Andish on charges linked to the deaths of four members of the security forces in the protests.

According to IHR, since wartime executions resumed in March, 31 people, all men, have been hanged in connection with the January protests and two in connection with the 2022 protests. Dozens more are at risk of execution.

The CHRI said it believed a total of nine women across Iran are at risk of execution on political and security charges.

President Donald Trump in April re-posted a claim on X by a pro-Israel youth activist in the United States that eight women faced death by hanging, with the US leader urging them to be spared.

Shahbani was one of the women who featured in the post, although some others have since been freed or no longer face execution.

O.Pereira--NZN