LONDON: Lawyers representing journalists Niloufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi are calling for the release of the two reporters who initially broke the story on Iranian woman Masha Amini’s death.
According to Iran International, the legal team submitted a request to authorities for the immediate release of the journalists after a year of what they described as “temporary detention.”
Both writers were the first to report on the death of Amini on Sept. 16, last year. The 22-year-old was arrested for allegedly not wearing a hijab in accordance with government laws and died in police custody.
Niloufar and Hamedi, journalists from the reformist Iranian dailies Shargh and Ham-Mihan, have since been imprisoned under the accusation of espionage and have been formally charged with colluding against national security for hostile states.
In an interview with Shargh newspaper, Hamedi’s attorney, Partu Borhanpur, said that two months had elapsed since her trial and the court had yet to issue its ruling, keeping her unjustly in interim imprisonment.
Approximately 100 journalists, a significant number of who are women, have reportedly faced arrests linked to their coverage of protests.
While most have been granted release on bail, some have been rearrested on accusations of “spreading propaganda against the ruling system” and “colluding and acting against national security.”
Iranian authorities are on high alert as the country experiences sporadic protests on the anniversary of Amini’s death.
