Iran’s female journalists trapped in ‘labyrinth of repression’ for reporting on Mahsa Amini
- The female journalists who covered the death of Mahsa Amini have been held in detention for almost a year and are on trial for violating national security
- About 79 journalists including 31 women were arrested in the crackdown following Amini’s death, with 12 still behind bars today, according to a watchdog group
Iranian authorities have since the death of Mahsa Amini systematically persecuted the journalists, often young women, who helped expose the case and magnify its resonance in and outside Iran, campaign groups say.
Amini, 22, an Iranian of Kurdish origin, died on September 16, 2022 following her arrest in Tehran for allegedly flouting the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women.
Her death sparked months of protests in one of the biggest challenges for the Iranian authorities since the 1979 revolution.
Security forces responded with a crackdown that saw thousands arrested, including almost 80 journalists, according to a watchdog. Particularly targeted were those who reported on the circumstances of her death.
Her family says she was killed by a blow while in custody, a version rejected by the Iranian authorities.
Almost a week after she died, Iranian authorities on September 22 arrested Niloufar Hamedi, 29, a journalist with the reformist Shargh daily who went to the hospital where Amini had been taken.