Women hold signs and chant slogans during a protest over the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini outside the Iranian Consulate on September 29, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. Mahsa Amini fell into a coma and died after being arrested in Tehran by the morality police, for allegedly violating the countries hijab rules. Amini's death has sparked weeks of violent protests across Iran. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images) Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi were given prison sentences of seven years and six years, respectively, Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported Sunday.
The pair were found guilty of collaborating with the US government in protests that swept the country following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in a Tehran hospital after she was arrested for allegedly flouting the country’s Islamic dress codes in September 2022.
Rights groups say more than 500 people have died in anti-government protests. At least seven men, most of them in their 20s, were hanged for their alleged roles in unrest and thousands more were jailed, according to Amnesty International.
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Other charges against Hamedi and Mohammadi included spreading propaganda against the state and acting against national security. The verdicts can be appealed, according to Mizan.
There is “conclusive evidence” that the two journalists “sought anti-security objectives” in collaboration with individuals and organizations close to the US government, Mizan said without elaboration.