Breathing in Confinement

14 April 2026
News category: Prisoners

Breathing in Confinement: Four political prisoners, including one woman, who were detained during the January 2026 protests, have been sentenced by the Islamic Republic’s judiciary to severe punishments including death, imprisonment, and confiscation of property.

According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, Bita Hemmati, Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl, Behrouz Zamani-Nejad, and Kourosh Zamani-Nejad have been sentenced to death by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, on charges of “operational action in favour of the hostile government of the United States of America and hostile groups.”

According to the ruling, these four defendants were also each sentenced to five years’ discretionary imprisonment and confiscation of property on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security.” In the same case, another defendant, Amir Hemmati, was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the regime.”

According to the indictment, the allegations against these individuals include “participation in protest gatherings on 8 and 9 January 2026,” “chanting protest slogans,” “throwing objects including bottles, concrete blocks, and incendiary materials from rooftops,” “destruction of public property,” and “use of incendiary materials with unspecified tools.”

In issuing the death sentences, the court relied on Article 1 of the Law on “Intensifying Punishment for Cooperation with Hostile Governments and Actions Against National Security and Interests” and characterised the alleged actions of the defendants as “operational action for a hostile government and hostile groups.”

However, the text of the judgment does not set out in a separate and substantiated manner how the charges were specifically attributed to each defendant, nor does it clearly identify their individual roles in the alleged acts—an issue that raises serious concerns from the perspective of fair trial principles and legal scrutiny.

According to published information, Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl and Bita Hemmati are a married couple residing in Tehran, and Amir Hemmati is one of their relatives.

Received reports further indicate that the proceedings in this case were accompanied by serious concerns regarding compliance with fair trial standards, including severe physical and psychological pressure exerted on the defendants during interrogation in order to obtain confessions, as well as deprivation of access to counsel of their choosing during the initial stages of proceedings.