Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi were both imprisoned in September 2022, a few days after helping to publicize the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, in detention. On Sunday January 14, they were released on bail from Evin prison.
Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, two Iranian journalists sentenced to long prison terms for their reporting on the death of Mahsa Amini, have been released. According to the Iranian Fars news agency, their bail amounts to around €170,000 each. They are both banned from leaving the country until their appeal trial, the date of which is not yet known.
Niloufar Hamedi, photographer for the reformist daily Shargh, was arrested on September 20 after going to the hospital where Mahsa Amini had spent three days in a coma before dying. The journalist, who assured during her trial that she “did his work as a journalist within the framework of the law and did not commit any act against the security of Iran”, then posted a photo of the grieving family on social networks. She was then sentenced in October 2023 to seven years in prison for cooperation with the United States, five years in prison for plotting against the security of the country and one year for propaganda against the Islamic Republic.
Elaheh Mohammadi, a reporter for the other major Iranian reformist daily Ham Mihan, was arrested on September 29 after going to Saghez, Mahsa Amini’s town in Kurdistan province, to cover his funeral which gave rise to a demonstration and the emergence of the movement “Woman, life freedom”. She was sentenced in October 2023 to six years in prison for collaboration with the United States, five years for plotting against the security of the country and one year for propaganda against the Islamic regime. Her twin sister, Elnaz Mohammadi, head of Ham Mihan’s company department, was herself sentenced in September to three years in prison, much of which was suspended, for conspiracy.
The death of Mahsa Amini sparked one of the largest waves of protests in Iran. Thousands of people then took to the streets. The reporting by Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi was crucial to the mobilization.
The United Nations awarded journalists the Press Freedom Prize in May 2023 for their work and commitment.
