Iranian courts have handed down death sentences to two women accused of anti-government protests in January, human rights groups said on Monday, as Tehran steps up executions of people arrested in protests. The two women were sentenced in separate cases, but both were linked to incidents in the central city of Isfahan, which was a center of nationwide protest activity that peaked on the nights of January 8 and 9. In the context of the war, Iran has already executed 29 men on charges related to the unrest, although Iran has hanged at least 16 women this year on other charges, according to Iran Human Rights. Taraneh Rahimi, 20, was sentenced to death along with nine men for incidents during protests in an Isfahan square in which two people were killed, including a member of the security forces, the Norway-based Hengaw group and the US-based Human Rights Activists News. “The defendants’ lawyers did not have access to a substantial part of the case file and objected that they had not been given sufficient time to review documents and evidence,” Human Rights Activist News Agency said. In the other case, Leila Abolhasani, a 43-year-old mother of two teenagers, was convicted by a court in Isfahan of setting fire to a shop during the protests, legal affairs monitor Dadban and Human Rights Activists News Agency said. Her relatives have denied the accusation, saying she was only present at the scene and was filming the burning store, the groups said.
