Nilufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, the two Iranian journalists who uncovered the case of Mahsa Amini – the young Kurdish woman who died in police custody in September 2022 – were reported this Monday to the prosecutor's office for wearing the Islamic veil, which is mandatory is, not worn. in Iran, just hours after being released on bail after spending 17 months in prison. “The General and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office of Tehran is opening a new case against the two journalists who were released from prison this Sunday for not wearing an Islamic veil after their temporary release from prison,” the Mizan agency, part of the judiciary, reported.
According to Mizan, the accusation was made because of the publication of photos and videos of the two uncovered journalists on social networks when they were released from Evin Prison in Tehran this Sunday. It is not known who filed the complaint. Hamedi and Mohammadi had paid the equivalent of 178,000 euros in bail, said the Efe agency, which in turn reported, citing the Fars agency, that the two women were banned from leaving the country.
Hamedi was the first journalist to report on Amini's arrest by the so-called moral police, who was accused of improperly wearing the Islamic veil, and her subsequent death in their custody on September 16, 2022. For his part, Mohammadi reported from the funeral of the 22-year-old girl, where the wave of protests that shook the country for months began.
Hamedi, of the reformist Shargh newspaper, was sentenced to seven years in prison in October for allegedly colluding with the United States, while Mohammadi, of the Hammihan newspaper, was sentenced to six years in prison for the same crime. In addition, the two informants were sentenced to five additional years for crimes against national security and another year for spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, nearly a hundred journalists and photographers have been arrested for their work during the mobilizations in Iran. At least 80 informants were released on bail.
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Amini's death sparked violent protests that called for the end of the Islamic Republic for months and only disappeared after a crackdown that left more than 500 people dead and another 22,000 people arrested. Eight protesters were executed, one of them publicly. In recent months, the Iranian government has sought to reintroduce the use of the veil by increasing the presence of patrols on the streets and introducing a bill that would increase penalties for not covering one's hair.
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