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Iranian mother sentenced to death - simply for snapping photos of protest fire
New York Post • • world
Key Points:
- Leila Abolhasani, a 43-year-old Iranian mother of two, was sentenced to death by hanging for filming a retail store fire during January's anti-regime protests, charged with "Moharebeh" or "enmity against God."
- Abolhasani was arrested on January 8 in Shahin Shahr after photographing the fire at an Ofogh Koorosh grocery store; authorities accused her of involvement in arson, but her family denies these claims, stating she only documented the event.
- The case is under appeal at Iran's Supreme Court, with limited public information on the trial's evidence or legal defense; she has been detained at Dowlatabad Prison in Isfahan since her arrest.
- Human rights groups and refugees view Abolhasani's death sentence as a tactic by Iran's regime to intimidate citizens and suppress documentation of government brutality during protests.
- Since March, Iran has executed at least 56 people on national security charges related to the protests, with over 100 others facing potential death sentences, prompting condemnation from the UN human rights chief who called the death penalty incompatible with human dignity.
