The Tehran Revolutionary Court in Iran has sentenced two female journalists to prison who covered the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests, as reported by Mizan News Agency. The journalists, namely, Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, were charged with collaboration with the US government and acting against national security.
Mohammadi has been sentenced to six years in prison, while Hamedi has been sentenced to seven years. Both were charged on grounds of collaborating with the US administration, acting against national security, and propagating against the Islamic Republic. Under three articles of the Islamic Penal Code of 2013, both journalists are also banned from being members of political parties, taking part in activities in media outlets, or newspapers. Both verdicts can be appealed.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the convictions, with Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, stating, “The convictions of Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi are a travesty and serve as a stark testament to the erosion of freedom of speech and the desperate attempts of the Iranian government to criminalize journalism.”
Mahsa Amini was arrested in Tehran, Iran, for wearing an “improper” hijab and died last year, inciting widespread protests across Iran that led to a number of arrests and executions. The sentenced journalists, Hamedi and Mohammadi, were among those covering these events in Iran and were detained as a result of their reporting.
Since the start of the nationwide protests over Amini’s death, Iranian authorities have arrested a total of 95 journalists. Of these, 72 have been released on bail. Furthermore, human rights groups have reported that over 500 people have been killed in connection to the protests, with many more at risk of execution for their involvement.