Iran’s judiciary has announced the enforcement of a five-year prison sentence for two journalists accused of “propaganda against the state” over their reporting on the death in custody of Mahsa Jina Amini which sparked nationwide protests in 2022.
Elaheh Mohammadi and Niloofar Hamedi, journalists from the “Ham-Mihan” and “Shargh” newspapers were among the first to report on Amini’s death in custody and her funeral, and were arrested in September 2022. Amini was arrested on September 13, 2022, by Tehran’s “morality police” for wearing an “improper hijab.” She was transferred to a hospital that same day in a coma, where she later died.
On July 6, 2024, the Tehran Provincial Court of Appeals sentenced Mohammadi and Hamedi to six years in prison on charges of “propaganda against the state,” and “assembly and collusion to act against national security.” While they were acquitted of the charge of “collaborating with the hostile United States government,” the maximum five-year sentence is enforceable, according to the court.
According to a judicial notice issued on October 19, the two journalists must surrender themselves to prison within five days of the notification date.
Hamedi’s lawyers assert the journalists’ cases qualify under the authorities’ 2023 post-nationwide protest amnesty, telling Shargh Daily, “Regardless of the validity of the charges, based on the same law under which [Hamedi] was sentenced to five years in prison, she is entitled to amnesty.”
Seyed Abbas Salehi, minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, said this week they have forwarded a letter from lawyers of the two journalists to the judiciary and are “seriously following up on their case.”
Authorities should stop the imposition of Mohammadi and Hamedi’s sentences. More than 500 journalists, artists, and social activists have signed a letter requesting Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of the judiciary, to use his authority to stop the implementation of the prison sentences of Hamedi and Mohammadi.
