Iran: RSF profiles cases of repression against women journalists since the death of Mahsa Amini
On the second anniversary of the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protest movement, spurred by the death of Mahsa Amini, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has compiled a list, which will be updated in real-time, of repressive acts against Iran’s women journalists. Imprisoned and arbitrarily prosecuted, they are paying for their brave, persistent reporting with their freedom.
Without the work of Iran’s women journalists like Elaheh Mohammadi of Ham Mihan and Niloofar Hamedi of Shargh Daily, the world might never have known about the death of young Kurdish student Mahsa Amini on 16 September 2022, three days after her arrest for defying Iran’s strict hijab rules.
The public might have believed the late Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, when he announced "there are no imprisoned journalists in Iran," if journalist Vida Rabbani had not written a letter from Qarshak prison stating, “I am a journalist, and I am in prison.” Without the courageous work of women like Saeedeh Shafiei, Nasim Sultan Beigi, and Ghazaleh Zareim, the news and images of the "Woman, Life, Freedom” movement – protests challenging Iran’s authoritarian regime which have been shaking the country since 2022 – would have never reached the Iranian public or the rest of the world. Then there is Narges Mohammadi, the writer and human rights advocate arrested on multiple occasions for her journalism and activism, who doggedly reports on the regime's ongoing persecution of women.
Two years after the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement began, with over 100 journalists locked up or prosecuted since September 2022, RSF highlights cases of women journalists who remain prisoners of Iran's repressive judicial system, an institution directed by Supreme Guide Ayatollah Khamenei.
Vida Rabbani, Tehran. Journalist for the reformist news media Sada Weekly, and activist
Charged with: Blasphemy, assembly and collusion with intent to act against national security, spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic, and disruption of public order.
Imprisoned since: 24 September, 2022
Judicial status: In December 2022, after covering the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement, Rabbani was sentenced to six years for blasphemy and spreading propaganda against the state. Even though Rabbani was pardoned in 2023 by Supreme Leader Khamenei for the 2022 sentencing, she remains in prison on separate charges of disruption of public order, blasphemy, spreading propaganda against the regime, and gathering and collusion with the intention of committing a crime against national security – all for her coverage of a protest against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), accused of shooting down flight PS752 in January 2020. Rabbani was consequently sentenced to a total of five years in prison, three of which must be spent in prison, which she is currently serving. Rabbani was banned from working, using social media, and participating in protests and political activities for five years.
Saba Azarpeik, Tehran. Freelance journalist, and former correspondent for the newspaper Etemad Daily
Charged with: Spreading lies, slander, and threats.
Imprisoned since: 9 June 2024
Judicial status: In May 2024, the Appeal Court of Tehran Province sentenced Azarpeik to three years in prison, two of which must be spent in prison, on the basis of several legal complaints. She is also banned from using social media for two years, must pay a fine, and must publicly apologise to her plaintiffs.
Saeedeh Shafiei. Freelance journalist
Charged with: Illegal assembly, collusion against the state, and spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic.
Imprisoned since: 31 July 2023. Shafiei was granted medical parole on 2 March 2024, before her re-incarceration on 6 September 2024.
Judicial status: Shafiei was sentenced to three years and seven months' imprisonment for assembly and conspiracy on 30 July 2023, which was later reduced to three years, six months and one day. She was also sentenced to eight months' imprisonment for spreading propaganda, which was later reduced to seven months and 16 days. Shafiei will only serve the longer sentence of three years and six months. She is also forbidden to travel for two years, and to join any group or organisation.
Parisa Salehi. Economic reporter for the daily newspaper Donyaye Eghtesad
Charged with: Spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic, according to article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code.
Imprisoned since: 28 April 2024, in Kachouei prison in the city of Karaj.
Judicial status: Salehi was sentenced to one year of imprisonment in February 2024. The sentence was reduced, on appeal, to five months in prison, and a ban on travel and online communication for two years.
Nasrin Hasani. Editor in chief of the daily Seyahat Shargh
Charged with: Disrupting public opinion by spreading lies on social media, and appearing in public without the proper Islamic hijab.
Imprisoned since: 4 January 2024. Hasani was granted medical parole in March before her re-incarceration on 28 June 2024 at Bojnord prison.
Judicial status: Hasani was sentenced to seven months in prison on 5 November 2023 for spreading false information on social networks, and fined one million Iranian tomans (around 20 euros) for appearing in public without a hijab. On 23 January 2024, the appeals court in Khorassan, a region in the country's northeast, upheld a one-year prison sentence for an earlier trial in which Hasani was charged with spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic.
Nasim Soltan Beigi. Freelance journalist
Charged with: Spreading propaganda against the regime, and assembly and collusion against state security.
Imprisoned since: 21 November 2023
Judicial status: On 20 July 2023, Beigi was sentenced to eight months in prison for spreading propaganda against the regime, and three years and seven months for assembly and collusion against state security. She must serve the latter, longer sentence.
Niloofar Hamedi. Correspondent for Shargh Daily, and one of the first journalists to cover the death of Mahsa Amini
Charges cited: Dissemination of propaganda against the state, crimes against national security, and collaboration with a foreign country.
Imprisoned: On 22 September 2022. Hamedi was released on bail on 15 January 2024. On 12 August 2024, Hamedi was sentenced to five years in prison on appeal. She is currently on conditional release, awaiting her incarceration order.
Judicial status: On 12 August 2024, the Court of Appeal exonerated Niloofar Hamedi of the charge of collaboration with a foreign country. Yet the court upheld the other two charges, for which it has yet to order Hamedi's incarceration.
Elaheh Mohammadi. Correspondent for Han Mihan, the only journalist to have covered Mahsa Amini's funeral
Charges cited: Spreading propaganda against the state, and crimes against national security.
Imprisoned: On 29 September 2022, before being released on bail on 15 January 2024. The Court of Appeal sentenced Elaheh Mohammadi to five years' imprisonment on 12 August 2024, with no incarceration order to date.
Judicial status: On 12 August, the Court of Appeal exonerated Elaheh Mohammadi of the charge of collaboration with a foreign country, yet upheld the other two charges. The court has yet to order Mohammadi’s re-incarceration.
Narges Mohammadi. Journalist, writer, human rights advocate, and 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Charged with: Propaganda activities against the state, acting against national security, and collusion against state security.
Imprisoned since: November 2021, when her latest period of detention began. In her lifetime, Narges Mohammadi has been arrested 13 times, convicted five times, and received prison sentences totaling more than 35 years. To date, she has spent over 10 years in prison and a total of 135 days in solitary confinement. With the recent deterioration of her health in prison, the demand for her medical release has become more urgent than ever before.
Judicial status: Narges Mohammadi was first sentenced in May 2021, before being sentenced on new charges in January 2022, October 2022, January 2024, and June 2024. Her sentences total 14 years and two months in prison, as well as 154 lashes. Additional charges and sentences continue to accumulate as retaliation for her persistence in speaking out from inside the prison, notably her condemnations of sexual violence and other violations of the rights of women prisoners. During her imprisonment, Narges Mohammadi has been denied access to health care, medical leave and contact with her family, prompting her to go on hunger strike numerous times to demand these rights for herself and other prisoners. She has been subjected to isolation, sexual harassment and other abusive treatment in while in prison. She has not been allowed to contact her family by phone since November 2023. Despite this oppression, Narges Mohammadi continues to fight for her freedom and that of all those incarcerated in Evin prison
