The National, on Iran, 29 October 2026

3.0out of 10Minor

Iran cancels execution for woman who 'filmed burning shop' during protests

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A woman condemned to death in <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/iran/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/iran/">Iran</a> for what supporters say was nothing more than filming a burning shop during protests has had her sentence overturned by the Supreme Court. Prosecutors had claimed Leila Abolhasani, 43, was involved in setting the shop on fire during <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/10/06/how-iran-gets-away-with-it-the-struggle-to-bring-architects-of-atrocities-to-trial/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/10/06/how-iran-gets-away-with-it-the-struggle-to-bring-architects-of-atrocities-to-trial/"> in January</a> that were met with a violent crackdown.

Ms Abolhasani, a nail technician with two children, was arrested in the city of Shahin Shahr, becoming one of an estimated 25,000 to 50,000 people <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2026/10/22/lindsay-craig-foreman-evin-prison-release-campaign/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2026/10/22/lindsay-craig-foreman-evin-prison-release-campaign/">detained in Iran</a> during the protests. She was found guilty of moharebeh, or enmity against God, and sentenced to death in August.

Campaigners outside Iran said she was merely taking videos of the unrest. "When Ms Abolhasani was present at the protest site, one of the Ofogh Kourosh chain stores in Shahin Shahr was burning and she was filming the scene," the organisation Human Rights Activists in Iran quoted a source close to her family as saying. It said she had been held at a prison in Isfahan. On Thursday, however, it reported that the Supreme Court had overturned her sentence and sent the case back to a lower court for retrial, in a rare victory for campaigners.

Activists say no court ruling or evidence has been made public. Iran has executed at least 34 people in cases linked to the January protests, Amnesty International said this month. Others have been put to death on espionage charges during the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/10/29/israeli-election-results-raise-prospect-of-new-iran-attack/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/10/29/israeli-election-results-raise-prospect-of-new-iran-attack/">US and Israeli war on Iran</a>.

A <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/09/17/un-mission-says-iran-protest-crackdown-amounted-to-crimes-against-humanity/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/09/17/un-mission-says-iran-protest-crackdown-amounted-to-crimes-against-humanity/">UN-backed fact-finding mission </a>said last month that the response to the protests amounted to crimes against humanity. The unrest began in late 2025, triggered by high prices and the weakness of Iran's currency, before broadening into .

Government personnel responded by firing into crowds from rooftops, trapping demonstrators in alleys with tear gas and carrying out killings in all 31 provinces of Iran, the UN mission said.

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What we found (1)

The National reports that Iran's Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of Leila Abolhasani and sent her case for retrial, setting the prosecution's charge against campaigners' account. It attributes its claims carefully to prosecutors, rights groups, Amnesty and the UN mission. The only flaw is that it twice uses the loaded word 'regime' in its own narration.

  1. Uses a loaded word

    Minor

    “anti-regime protests”

    Why this matters
    The National labels the January protests 'anti-regime protests' in its own voice, using 'regime' for Iran's government without attribution.
    The impression it gives
    The reader takes 'regime' as a neutral description of Iran's government and absorbs a verdict carried by the word itself.
    The context
    'Regime' carries a judgement that belongs inside quotation marks, attributed to whoever uses it. 'Anti-government protests' would describe the same events without the outlet adopting the label. Elsewhere the article manages the neutral term, writing 'Government personnel responded by firing into crowds'.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“Government personnel responded by firing into crowds”

    Show it in the article

    “one of the biggest anti-regime revolts since the 1979 revolution”

    Why this matters
    The National repeats 'anti-regime' in its own narration, this time in the background paragraph that defines the whole movement for the reader.
    The impression it gives
    The reader is told in the outlet's voice that Iran's government is a 'regime', which sets the frame for the closing account of the crackdown.
    The context
    The facts in the paragraph describe protests that began over prices and currency weakness and broadened against the government. A neutral term would carry that without the outlet's verdict.

    Show it in the article

What it gets right

  • “for what supporters say was nothing more than filming a burning shop”

    The National marks the account of her innocence as the supporters' claim, not its own fact, and gives the prosecution's claim separately in S2.

  • “Government personnel responded by firing into crowds from rooftops, trapping demonstrators in alleys with tear gas and carrying out killings in all 31 provinces of Iran, the UN mission said”

    The National names who did the killing in the active voice, uses the word killings, and attributes the finding to the UN mission.

  • “US and Israeli war on Iran”

    The National names the US and Israel as the parties waging the war rather than writing it as a conflict without actors.

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