Iranian woman, 23, facing execution for taking part in mass protests 'issues desperate appeal for help in voice message from her jail cell'

An Iranian woman who faces execution for participating in anti-regime protests has begged for help from inside her prison cell. Accounting student Najmeh Amini, 23, was sentenced to death last week after being held in the notorious Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad for eight months on charges which included 'insulting the Supreme Leader' and 'clashing with security agents,' according to human rights group Iran Human Rights Monitor. Following her sentence, a leaked voice recording from inside prison has emerged in which Amini desperately pleads for help. 'Greetings to the people of Iran. I am Najmeh Amini, 23 years old, speaking from the central prison of Mashhad. I am leaving this message for you on 18 September 2026,' she is heard saying. 'I am not trying to make a hero out of myself today; I only ask one thing: be my voice. I am an innocent girl, a young person with so many hopes and dreams. I have parents who are waiting for me— a family that wakes up every morning fearing my loss.'I do not want the last remaining trace of me to be a few lines in a case file.'If my voice reaches outside the prison, please do not listen to it for just a moment and then forget it!'People, I only want justice and the opportunity to defend myself. I request lawyers, legal scholars, human rights activists, and everyone who hears the voices of innocent people to review my case file. Iranian national Najmeh Amini, 23 (pictured) was sentenced to death last week Amini, a student, recorded a voice note from inside her prison cell pleading for help'I request international human rights organisations and responsible bodies at the United Nations to hear my voice and investigate and follow up on the status of my case.'Remember my name; I may not be able to speak again. But as long as I am alive, I hold one hope: that before the rope marks the end of my life, I see my prosperous and free Iran,' she adds. According to IHRM, Amini was arrested on January 31 after she - alongside hundreds of thousands of Iranians - took to the streets to protest against its authoritarian government. In response, security forces unleashed a deadly crackdown, in which more than 7,000 people were killed, while thousands more were arrested, according to human rights groups. Detainees have spent the last eight months in limbo as courts decide their fates. Public executions are not uncommon in Iran and are often reserved for political prisoners. They are largely carried out by hanging in a public square, where cranes mounted on trucks serve as gallows. The IHRM said: 'Issuing a death sentence against a 23-year-old student after months of arbitrary detention, reported risk of torture, and complete denial of counsel doubles the urgency for immediate international intervention to stay and overturn this sentence.' Amini's sentencing comes just weeks after two men were publicly hanged after being convicted of killing four police officers during nationwide anti-government protests. Rights groups said the execution of Abdolfazl Sepahi Badjani and Amir Hossein Safari Hosseinabadi was carried out at dawn on July 28 in Alikhani Square in the central city of Isfahan, the place where the police were killed. People gather during protest on January 8, 2026 in Tehran, IranThey were among 14 people accused of killing the police, all of them sentenced to death. Amnesty International called the July executions 'a further escalation in the authorities' use of the death penalty to crush dissent.' It said at least 60 others, including three arrested as children, remain at risk of execution.'The Iranian authorities are unleashing a horrifying wave of executions and death sentences to punish and suppress dissent and project an image of strength and absolute control,' said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International's regional director. 'The muted response from the international community emboldens the Iranian authorities to continue their deadly rampage.'Amnesty said at least 26 people were arbitrarily executed after being convicted of offences related to the January protests, following what it said were 'torture-tainted, grossly unfair trials' by revolutionary courts. Another 26 people have been executed this year on politically motivated charges, including espionage and membership in opposition groups, it said.The protests were triggered by Iran’s deepening economic crisis and quickly escalated into calls for the overthrow of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was later killed in the opening U.S.-Israeli strikes.The crackdown was the deadliest carried out by the Islamic Republic in its 47-year history.HRANA, which relies on a network of contacts inside Iran, says more than 7,000 people were killed and that it is investigating thousands more cases. It said over 50,000 were arrested in just over six weeks. The government has acknowledged that more than 3,000 people were killed.At the height of the protests, Iranian authorities signalled that fast trials and executions lay ahead.