Iranian Journalists Released On Bail Facing New Charges For Hijab

Iran's judiciary says it will prosecute two female journalists for violating hijab regulations, shortly after being furloughed from prison on hefty bail on Sunday.

Iran's hardliner judiciary disclosed that the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Tehran has initiated fresh legal proceedings against Elaheh Mohammadi and Niloufar Hamedi, who had been incarcerated for their reporting on the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022. Following their release from prison, they shared photos on social media in which they appeared without headscarves.

Mohammadi and Hamedi who were in prison since September 2022 were temporarily released after posting hefty bails of approximately $200,000 and received a hero’s welcome from their family members, friends, and the public.

People walking to Evin Prison to welcome the two journalists

“After months of campaigning for their release, we were relieved to see Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi smiling outside the walls of Evin prison. But we barely had time to express our relief before the authorities brandished a new threat of imprisonment,” Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a statement Tuesday.

RSF called for “an end to the judicial harassment of two iconic Iranian women journalists” and said they must be freed “definitively and unconditionally and called for ‘an end to the judicial harassment.

“Provisional releases of journalists are often fragile. Many have been reimprisoned again and again on the least pretext,” RSF said.

The Instagram page that represents Iran's 2023 Nobel Peace Laureate Narges Mohammadi said Monday that she has received an additional sentence of 15 months by the Revolutionary Court of Tehran for “propaganda against the regime”, in connection with statements she makes from prison and similar reasons including defending her fellow women detainees, She has already been severing a 12-year sentence since November 2022.

Mohammadi and Hamedi being welcomed by family and friends outside Evin Prison.

Many political figures and activists including Mahsa Amini’s father, Narges Mohammadi, former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, legendary soccer player and activist Ali Karimi have congratulated the two journalists for their release from prison and expressed hope that all political prisoners would be freed too.

Mohammadi, 36, and Hamedi, 32, were sentenced by the notorious judge Abolghasem Salavati on 22 October2023. Mohammadi received a 12-year sentence, with 6 years to be served. Hamedi received 13 years with 7 years to be served. They were both banned from working for the media on charges of “collaboration with the hostile government of the United States”, “propaganda against the regime”, and “assembly and collusion to act against national security”.

They have denied the charges brought against them and appealed their sentences. Speaking to Ham-Mihan, Mohammadi’s lawyer, Shahabeddin Mirlohi, said the appeal hearing was held Saturday and he expected her to be cleared of all charges brought his client.

Mohammadi and Hamedi have both sued Judge Salavati for miscarriage of justice including refusal to allow them to be released from prison even after one year of temporary detention.

The two journalists minutes after their release from prison. 

Hamedi who worked for the reformist Shargh newspaper was arrested on September 22, 2022, for her reporting on Mahsa Amini's critical situation in the hospital after she received serious head injuries in hijab police custody.

Mohammadi, a Ham-Mihan reformist daily’s reporter suffered the same fate for her coverage of Amini's funeral in Saqqez and interviews with her family members a week later.

Amini's death sparked nationwide protests. A week later, Mohammadi, a Ham-Mihan newspaper reporter, was arrested covering Amini's funeral in Saqqez. Accused of informing about Amini's death, both faced pressure from security entities.