A behind-closed-doors trial is being held in Tehran for an Iranian journalist on charges resulting from her coverage of Mahsa Amini, whose 2022 death in custody by Iran’s morality police sparked months of protest.
Elaheh Mohammadi, a reporter for the pro-reform Hammihan newspaper who is on trial in Tehran, as well as Sharq newspaper journalist, Niloofar Hamedi, have been accused of “colluding with hostile powers” for their coverage of Amini’s death, Reuters reports. The two journalists have been held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison since last September.
In October, Iran’s intelligence ministry and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accused Mohammadi and Hamedi of being CIA agents.
Mohammadi’s trial began on Monday and Hamedi’s is scheduled to start Tuesday, judiciary spokesman Massoud Setayeshi told the Times of Israel. Each is being tried separately by the revolutionary courts and could face the death penalty under Islamic law if convicted.
Amini was detained by Iranian police in September 2022 for allegedly not wearing her hijab and fell into a coma and died while in custody. Her death ignited outrage and mass protests throughout the world.
Mohammadi covered Amini’s funeral in her Kurdish hometown of Saqez, where the protests began.
“The trial of Elaheh Mohammadi went well. The date of the next session will be announced by the court,” her lawyer, Shahabeddin Mirlohi, told ILNA news agency.
Human rights groups have repeatedly called on the Islamic Republic to hold a public trial for Mohammadi and Hamedi, but those calls have been ignored.
