Iran extends amnesty to journalists who covered Amini’s death

TEHRAN — Iranian authorities on Tuesday granted pardons to two journalists jailed after covering the 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, which sparked nationwide protests, official media said.

Elaheh Mohammadi, 37, and Niloufar Hamedi, 32, were jailed in September 2022, days after producing media coverage of Amini’s death. The two journalists, both women, had spent more than a year behind bars before their release on bail.

“The cases of Ms Mohammadi and Ms Hamedi have been included in the list of pardons presented on Tuesday and have been awarded amnesty,” said the judiciary’s Mizan Online news website.

Mohammadi, a reporter for the reformist Ham Mihan daily, was arrested after going to Amini’s hometown of Saqez, in the western Iranian province of Kurdistan, to cover her funeral which turned into a demonstration.

Hamedi, a photographer for Shargh daily, was arrested less than a week after Amini’s death after posting a picture of the young woman’s grieving family on social media.

They had both received jail terms for collaboration with the United States, conspiring against state security and propaganda against the Islamic republic.

In August, the lawyers of the two journalists said they had been acquitted of the charge of collaboration with the United States.

Shargh reported on Tuesday that the cases of both journalists were now “closed”.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, had been arrested for an alleged breach of strict dress rules for women, in place since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.