Home TRENDING IRAN HANDS OUT PRISON TERMS TO FEMALE REPORTERS FOR COVERING THE AMINI...

IRAN HANDS OUT PRISON TERMS TO FEMALE REPORTERS FOR COVERING THE AMINI PROTESTS

IRAN HANDS OUT PRISON TERMS TO FEMALE REPORTERS FOR COVERING THE AMINI PROTESTS

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According to state media on Sunday, two female journalists covering the death in jail of Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini last year have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms by an Iranian Revolutionary Court in DUBAI.

Women take part in a rally on the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini which prompted protests across the country, in Istanbul, Turkey September 16, 2023. Banner reads, “We revolt against world for Mahsa Amini”. REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

Amini, a young man of 22, died in the custody of the morality police in September of last year after being arrested for allegedly breaking the Islamic dress code. His death sparked months of widespread protests across Iran and posed the greatest challenge to Iran’s clerical leaders in decades.

Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi were reportedly sentenced to 13 and 12 years in prison for accusations including collaborating with the U.S. government and working against national security, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

The allegations have been dismissed by counsel for the two journalists.

For their roles in aiding the adversarial U.S. government, they were sentenced to seven and six years in prison, respectively. After that, “IRNA reported, each would receive a five-year sentence for acts against national security and a one-year sentence for propaganda against the system.

Mohammadi was arrested while covering Amini’s funeral in her Kurdish birthplace of Saqez, where the protests began, while Hamedi was caught after taking a picture of Amini’s parents kissing each other while their daughter lay in a coma in a Tehran hospital.

According to IRNA, the “issued verdicts” can be challenged.

According to the Mizan news agency, the judiciary plans to reduce the women’s sentences if they are confirmed by subtracting the time they have already spent in Evin prison, where most political prisoners are imprisoned.

In a statement issued in October, Iran’s intelligence service claimed that Mohammadi and Hamedi were spies for the CIA.

“There is documented evidence of Hamedi and Mohammadi’s intentional connections with certain entities and individuals affiliated with the U.S. government,” said Mizan.

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