Attorneys for two Iranian journalists kept in jail for nearly a year for first reporting Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody have requested their immediate release.
Niloufar Hamedi’s and Elahe Mohammadi’s lawyers submitted legal requests for their release after one year of “temporary detention,” which, according to Iran’s laws, is illegal.
The two journalists – from reformist Iranian dailies Shargh and Ham-Mihan – have been imprisoned for about 350 days because the regime blames them for the nationwide protests that followed Amini’s death in hospital on September 16, 2022, after her arrest by the notorious hijab police.
The Islamic Republic is known to crack down on people who reveal corruption and wrongdoing in Iran, with authorities announcing that reporting the crimes is worse than the crimes themselves.
Hamedi reported about Mahsa Amini struggling for her life in a hospital after receiving fatal head injuries while in custody. When the 22-year-old Amini passed away, residents of Tehran began gathering around the hospital to protest, and soon, demonstrations spread to many cities. The Woman, Life, Freedom movement that began presented the most serious challenge to the Islamic regime in its 44-year history and lasted for months.
Iran’s intelligence ministry and the Revolutionary Guard accused the two reporters of having links with the CIA and foreign governments and conspiring to agitate public opinion against the regime.
Hamedi’s attorney, Partu Borhanpur, in an interview with Shargh newspaper, said two months have passed since her trial was held, and the court has not announced its decision, keeping Hamedi illegally in temporary detention.
