Iran starts trial of two female journalists who covered Mahsa Amini’s death
-
Hashim Sheikh
- . May 31, 2023
- . Update: May 31, 2023 4:34 pm
The Islamic Republic of Iran has started a trial of two female journalists who covered Mahsa Amini’s death in September last year, which sparked months of unrest in the country.
Also Read – Iran’s Mahsa Amini protests now have women from conservative region
On Tuesday, a Revolutionary Court in Iran started the trial of a female journalist behind closed doors, her husband said on Twitter.
Niloofar Hamedi, an Iranian journalist who works for the reformist daily newspaper Shargh, took the picture of Amini’s parents hugging each other in a hospital in Tehran. Amini was lying in a coma, highlighting the brutality committed by the Iranian morality police.
Hamedi’s husband, Mohammad Hossein Ajorlou, said on Twitter that the trial session ended in less than two hours. Mohammad Hossein Ajorlou said that his wife’s lawyer did not get a chance to defend her. The Iranian authorities did not allow Hamedi’s family to attend the court proceedings.
Hamedi’s husband said, “She denied all the charges against her and emphasized that she had performed her duty as a journalist based on the law.”
Elaheh Mohammadi, who reports on society and women’s issues for the daily Ham-Mihan newspaper, also faced trial on Monday. She also filed reports on Amini’s death. She reported about Amini’s funeral in the northern Iranian city of Saqqez.
Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman, died in the custody of the country’s controversial morality police. She was arrested by the Iranian morality police for wearing a loose hijab. Human rights activists and female journalists claimed that morality police hit Amini’s head with a baton for allegedly wearing a loose hijab. She died at a hospital in Tehran. Huge protests erupted in Saqqez, Amini’s hometown. Her funeral took place in Saqqez.
Also Read – Mourners in Iran gather at grave of Mahsa Amini despite crackdown
In October, Iran’s intelligence ministry accused Mohammadi and Hamedi of being CIA ( Central Intelligence Agency) foreign agents.
Earlier this month, the two female journalists won the UN press freedom award.
