Trial of Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi; “Lawyers Have Not Yet Met with Their Clients”
The spokesperson for the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic announced on Tuesday, June 2, that the first-instance court trial of Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, two journalists arrested in connection with their news coverage of Mahsa Amini’s death case, will be held on June 8 and 9.
Masoud Setayeshi, in response to a question about the case of these two detained journalists, said: “With the attention of the head of the relevant branch and regardless of the volume of work, study time was provided for lawyers to prepare their defense.”
The judiciary spokesperson added: “The court hearing time for Elaheh Mohammadi’s case is set for June 8 and Niloofar Hamedi for June 9, so that in accordance with Islamic standards and legal regulations, their cases will be examined with full accuracy and appropriate speed, and their fate determined.”
The first-instance court trial of these two journalists will take place after 9 months of detention. This comes as many activists and human rights organizations have criticized the two journalists’ lack of access to their lawyers.
Mohammad Hossein Ajarlou, husband of Niloofar Hamedi, responded to this news on Twitter, writing: “In the ninth month of Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi’s detention, the court date was set while this was not notified to them or their lawyers, and we were informed through the judiciary spokesperson.”
He added: “Less than a week remains until the trial, yet the lawyers have still not been able to meet and speak with their clients.”
In this regard, the Journalists Support Committee, in response to the news of the trial of these two journalists and noting that journalism is not a crime, has strongly condemned the conduct of the Islamic Republic’s judiciary towards journalists.
The Journalists Support Committee has also called for these two journalists’ access to their lawyers.
Elaheh Mohammadi, a journalist for the newspaper “Hamehan” and Niloofar Hamedi, a journalist for the newspaper “Shargh,” who covered events following Mahsa Amini’s death, were arrested by the security institutions of the Islamic Republic in the early days of nationwide protests and remain in prison.
The spark of nationwide and ongoing protests in Iran was ignited on September 16 of last year following the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini in the custody of the morality police, and its scope quickly expanded.
Niloofar Hamedi was arrested shortly after news of Mahsa Amini’s death was published, and Elaheh Mohammadi was arrested after preparing a report from Jina’s funeral ceremony in Saqqez cemetery.
Source: Radio Farda
