Iran releases 2 reporters jailed for Amini death coverage

Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi were among the first reporters to cover Jina Mahsa Amini's death in September 2022. They were both charged with colluding with the US government among other things last year.

Two Iranian journalists who were serving long prison sentences for their coverage of the death of Jina Mahsa Amini have been released on bail pending their appeal, Iranian media reported Sunday.

The two journalists, Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, were among the first to report on Amini's death in police custody following her incarceration for supposedly wearing her headscarf improperly.

The young Kurdish woman's death prompted widespread protests throughout the country — typically involving young women demonstrably uncovering their hair in public — and subsequently a crackdown from authorities in Tehran.

The two journalists were greeted by relatives and supporters upon their release from custody on Sunday.

However, they have since been charged with not wearing the mandatory hijab in photos taken after their release that were widely shared on social media.

"After footage of the defendants without hijab was released online, a new case has been filed against them," the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news portal said on Monday.

Bail for the pair combined equates to around a century's salary for average earner in Iran

The two journalists were charged last year by a court in Iran for collaborating with the US government among other things. They were sentenced to up to seven years in prison, the judiciary news ageny Mizan had reported.

Hamedi wrote for the daily newspaper Shargh and Mohammadi covered social issues and gender equality for the newspaper Ham-Mihan. They were jointly awarded UNESCO's world press freedom prize in May of 2023.

The bail was set at roughly $200,000 (around €180,000) and their release is pending their appeal hearing. They were forbidden from leaving the country before trial.

$200,000 equates to about 50 years' salary for a person earning Iran's estimated GDP per capita of around $4,000 per annum.

Some 100 journalists were also arrested amid the demonstrations that spread across the country following Amini's death, as Iran sought to repress information on them at home and abroad.

Thousands still detained over protests against Amini's death

Amini's death on September 16, 2022, after being detained by the country's morality police for allegedly not wearing the hijab headscarf properly, sparked widespread outrage in the country.

Mass wave of protests swept the country, posing one of the most serious challenges to Iran's theocratic establishment since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

Iranian forces heavily cracked down on protesters, detaining thousands of people, from university professors to bereaved family members of those killed during the very demonstrations.

Iran has not offered any casualty figures but acknowledged thousands of detentions. Human rights groups in Iran say at least 529 peole were killed in Iran and more than 19,000 detained during the crackdown on the 2022 and 2023 protests.