Background on Leila Abolhasani Facing Execution After January Unrest

Abolhasani, a 43-year-old mother of two, now confronts execution in Iran following her conviction for enmity against God tied to her detention in the January nationwide protests.

Until January, little in public records set Leila Abolhasani apart or drew notice beyond Shahin Shahr, a city north of Isfahan in central Iran.

The 43-year-old provided nail and beauty services while raising two teenage daughters. Like many others who joined street actions in January, available reports give no sign she was a leading opposition figure or known dissident.

Yet more than seven months after her arrest amid the countrywide demonstrations that gripped Iran in January, Abolhasani sits in Dowlatabad Prison in Isfahan under a death sentence.

Her case now sits with Iran's Supreme Court, and if the appeal fails she could face execution.

Abolhasani Charged With Igniting Supermarket Fire

The sequence leading to her situation started on the evening of January 8 during demonstrations in Shahin Shahr as wider unrest spread through the nation.

Per a source close to her family who spoke with the Human Rights Activists News Agency, Abolhasani stood near a branch of the Ofogh Kourosh supermarket chain that was ablaze and began recording the scene. Security personnel then detained her and accused her of taking part in setting the store on fire.

Her relatives reject that claim and insist she was only filming a blaze already underway. Authorities rejected that account.

Neither the judgment text nor the evidence used by the court has been released, so details of any video, witness statements, or forensic links to the fire stay unknown. IranWire noted that information on her trial conduct and legal defense also remains undisclosed.

After arrest, Abolhasani was moved to Dowlatabad Prison where she has stayed since. Her matter reached Branch 5 of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court and Judge Vahid Hemmatnejad, who considered it in late May.

The charge was moharebeh, enmity against God, among the Islamic Republic's gravest offenses. One Iranian human rights group reporting on the ruling stated the court found her guilty of moharebeh for arson and setting public property ablaze. The same group noted that limits under Note to Article 48 of Iran's Code of Criminal Procedure barred her from selecting her own lawyer during investigation.

Hemmatnejad imposed the death penalty in a continuing crackdown on protesters since January. Rights organizations have recorded between 500 and 1,000 executions in Iran so far in 2026, including those tied to protests.

Outstanding Legal Issues on the Charge Against Abolhasani

An unresolved legal point concerns the charge itself. Article 279 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code defines moharebeh as drawing a weapon against lives, property, or chastity, or acting in a way that spreads public fear and insecurity. Article 282 lists four possible penalties, including death by hanging.

No public accounts of Abolhasani's case claim she carried a weapon.

Hemmatnejad has become a recognized name in Iranian political matters in recent months.

Before political and national-security cases, he handled drug matters and issued death sentences to many defendants, according to IranWire. More recently he has been linked to harsh rulings against protesters and political prisoners.

On January 8, Abolhasani was a 43-year-old beautician and mother of two who, per her family, stood beside a burning supermarket and used her phone to record events. The Islamic Republic calls her an arsonist and convicted her of waging war against God.

Seven months later, the evidence that convinced a Revolutionary Court of that charge stays out of public view, while Abolhasani waits in an Isfahan prison for the Supreme Court to determine whether she will live or die.