An Iranian court has sentenced two journalists to up to seven years in prison for collaborating with the U.S. government and other chargess, according to recent local reports.
The journalists identified as Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammedi, have been detained for more than a year due to their involvement in reporting on the death of Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody in September 2022, ABC report.
Hamedi who worked for the reformist newspaper Shargh, reported on Amini’s death related to her alleged loose headscarf, while Mohammadi who was employed by Ham-Mihan, another reformist publication, authored an article about Amini’s funeral.
According to the judiciary news website Mizan, the journalists have been sentenced to seven and six years in prison, respectively.
The sentencing can be appealed within 20 days.
The Tehran Revolutionary Court had charged the journalists with collaborating with the hostile American government, colluding against national security and propaganda against the system, according to Mezan.
Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman of Kurdish heritage, was apprehended by the police in Tehran on September 13, 2022, allegedly for violating Iran’s strict dress code.
Tragically, she passed away in a Tehran hospital three days later after enduring physical abuse while in custody.
This incident sparked extensive protests in Iran, primarily led by women.
With Iran authorities responding with a violent crackdown in which more than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 others were detained, according to rights groups.
The reaction had sparked international criticism, with the 27-nation EU imposing sanctions on Iranian officials and organizations — including ministers, military officers and Iran’s morality police — for human rights abuses over the protests.