DUBAI – An Iranian court has cleared two journalists of collaborating with the United States and reduced their prison sentences, following their coverage of a high-profile case that triggered widespread protests in 2022, Iran’s most significant unrest in decades.
Journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, who were initially sentenced to 13 and 12 years in prison respectively, had their sentences reduced to five years, judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir announced at a news conference on October 13.
“They were acquitted of the charge of collaboration with the US in the appeal court,” Jahangir said.
Hamedi and Mohammadi were jailed after reporting on the death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in police custody after being detained for allegedly violating Iran’s Islamic dress code. Amini’s death sparked nationwide protests against the country’s morality police and its leadership, marking the largest unrest in Iran since the 1979 revolution.