Two Iranian journalists imprisoned for their coverage of the death of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody went on trial on Monday.
Months of protests erupted across the country after the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16 after she was arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.
30-year-old Niloufar Hamedi and 35-year-old Elaheh Mohammadi were charged with propaganda against the state and conspiring against national security and could face the death penalty.
The two journalists are being tried separately by the Revolutionary Courts behind closed doors in Tehran.
Mohammadi’s trial began on Monday, and Hamedi’s trial is scheduled to begin the following day.
Mohammadi’s lawyer, Shihab Merlouhi, described the hearing as “good and positive” and told AFP that the next court date would be confirmed at a later date.
Nilouar Hamedi, who works at Shargh newspaper, was detained on September 20 after visiting the hospital where Amini had spent three days in a coma before her death.
Niloufar Hamedi had taken a picture of Amini’s parents embracing in a Tehran hospital, where their daughter was lying in a coma.
The picture, which Hamedi published on Twitter, was the first alarm to the world that something was wrong with Amini, who had been arrested by the morality police three days earlier, for allegedly violating the hijab mandate.
As for Elaheh Mohammadi, she covered Amini’s funeral in the Kurdish city of Saqqaz, her hometown, where the protests began.
Iran put 576 people to death – up from 314 in 2021. Of 2022’s total, 279 people were convicted of murder, 255 of drug-related offences, 21 of rape, and 18 of the national security charge of “enmity against God”.
