Full Breakdown
Leila Abolhasani Sentenced to Death for “Enmity Against God”
8/31/2026, 2:59:18 AM
The Core Event
On the evening of January 8, 2026, protests erupted in Shahin Shahr, a city north of Isfahan, as part of nationwide unrest. Leila Abolhasani, a 43-year-old beautician and mother of two teenage daughters, was near an Ofogh Kourosh supermarket that caught fire. A source close to her family, cited by the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), says she filmed the blaze with her phone. Iranian authorities arrested her and later convicted her of moharebeh (“enmity against God”) for allegedly setting the fire, a charge that can carry the death penalty. The Revolutionary Court of Isfahan sentenced her to death in late May; the case now awaits review by the Iranian Supreme Court.
Legal Context and Procedure
The conviction rests on Article 279 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, which defines moharebeh as drawing a weapon against people’s lives, property, or chastity, or creating public fear. Article 282 lists death by hanging as one possible punishment. No public account reports that Abolhasani was armed, and the court’s judgment and evidentiary record have not been released. Restrictions under Note to Article 48 of the Code of Criminal Procedure prevented her from selecting her own lawyer during the investigative stage, a procedural limitation noted by an unnamed Iranian human-rights organization.
Key Figure
Judge Vahid Hemmatnejad presided over the case in the fifth chamber of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court. He previously handled drug-related cases and has become known for issuing death sentences in political and national-security matters, according to IranWire.
Human-Rights Concerns
Human-rights groups highlight that between 500 and 1,000 people have been executed in Iran so far in 2026, including protesters. They argue that Abolhasani’s trial lacked transparency, that the evidence linking her to the arson has not been disclosed, and that the denial of a chosen lawyer violates due-process standards. The family maintains she was merely documenting an existing fire and rejects any involvement in violence.
Current Status and Outlook
Abolhasani remains incarcerated at Dowlatabad Prison in Isfahan while her appeal proceeds to the Supreme Court. If the higher court upholds the lower-court ruling, the death sentence could be carried out, adding to the ongoing wave of executions linked to the January protests.
