Iranian Student Sentenced to Death Over Social-Media Post

Najmeh Amini, a 23-year-old Iranian accounting student, has been sentenced to death for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a social-media post, according to reports citing human-rights monitors. The sentence is not final and remains subject to review by Iran’s Supreme Court. Amini also received a separate prison sentence of 12 years, six months and one day on charges that reportedly include acting against national security and spreading propaganda. The two sentences arose from separate proceedings in Mashhad, in northeastern Iran. Reports say she is being held at Vakilabad Prison. The social-media post at the center of the death-penalty case has not been made public. The reported allegation is that it insulted the Prophet Muhammad, an offense punishable by death under Iran’s Islamic Penal Code. Without the post or court records, the contents and evidence underlying the allegation cannot be independently assessed. Accounts attributed to Iranian newspaper Khorasan say Amini’s defense argued the remarks were unintentional and made while she was hallucinating after consuming psychedelic mushrooms with friends. The judge reportedly rejected that explanation.