Two Iranian female journalists who reported on the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini while in custody have been sentenced to prison for their alleged collusion with the hostile US government.
An Iranian revolutionary court has found Elaheh Mohammadi and Niloufar Hamedi guilty of conspiring with the US government and disseminating propaganda against the Islamic Republic, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.
Hamedi was the first journalist to break the story of Amini’s arrest for not wearing the Islamic veil and her subsequent death in custody on Sep.16, 2022. Mohammadi covered the funeral of the 22-year-old woman.
Amini’s death triggered a wave of deadly protests that shook the country for several months last year.
Hamedi has been sentenced to seven years in prison for her alleged collusion with the US, while Mohammadi has received a six-year sentence for the same charges, according to the news agency.
Both journalists have been given five more years for harming national security and another year behind bars for propagating anti-Iran sentiments.
They have been prohibited from working in the media, affiliating with political parties, and using social networks for two years.
They have a 20-day window to appeal the court’s decision.
The two journalists were arrested in September and have spent a significant portion of their detention in solitary confinement, according to their families.
Their trials, held behind closed doors, began at the end of May, and they were allowed to meet with their lawyers just one day before the proceedings.
Days later, she published another image of the woman’s parents hugging in the hospital hallway upon learning of the death of their daughter.
Mohammadi covered Amini’s funeral in Saqez, a town in Kurdistan, where protests began on Sep.17 last year.
During the protests in Iran, almost 100 journalists and photographers were detained for their work, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, with 80 of them being released on bail.
Amini’s death led to strong protests that ultimately evolved into demonstrations calling for the end of the Islamic republic. The demonstrations ended following an alleged police crackdown in which 500 people were killed.
The authorities arrested at least 22,000 people during the protests, and seven protesters were executed, one of them publicly.
On the first anniversary of Amini’s death, the authorities prohibited demonstrations and deployed a large number of security forces.
In recent months, the Iranian government has been attempting to reinstate the mandatory use of the veil for women.
By Nadeem Faisal Baiga
