Niloofar Hamedi, an Iran woman journalist specializing in women’s rights detained without giving a reason, after posting a picture on Twitter.
Why are Iranian journalists in detention?
Niloofar Hamedi, an Iran woman journalist specializing in women’s rights detained without giving a reason, after posting a picture of Mahsa Amini’s parents holding hands at a Tehran hospital where their daughter was being treated for a coma.
The image, which Hamedi shared on Twitter on September 16, served as the first indication to the outside world that 22-year-old Amini, who had been held by Iran’s morality police three days before, for what they considered to be improper attire, was not doing well.
Journalist Prosecuted
Amini’s death has been sparking a wave of widespread protests across Iran that were still going strong, despite a government crackdown, nearly three weeks later in various parts of the country.
The image of Amini’s parents was one of Hamedi’s last posts before she was arrested a few days later and her Twitter account was disabled after that. Hamedi worked for the pro-reform daily Sharq.
On September 22, Niloofar Hamedi’s attorney, Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi, tweeted that on that morning intelligence operatives raided his client Niloofar Hamedi’s residence, arrested her, searched her house, and confiscated her possessions.
He also wrote that Hamedi is being held in solitary confinement in Iran’s Evin jail without charges and has not been prosecuted.
Committee to Protect Journalists
According to the sources, at least two female journalists were engaged in publicizing the account of Mehsa Amini, who died after being detained and allegedly abused for wearing a hijab wrongly, and have been detained by Iranian authorities.
According to a statement from the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, photographer Yalda Meiri was also detained. Her arrest and transfer to prison were confirmed by her relatives. The photographer was detained, and the Darbayanieh Journalists Protection Committee demanded her release. She was reportedly detained on Monday while reporting the anti-Amini protests in Tehran’s city centre and on Hijab Street.
The Committee to Protect Journalists‘ Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator, Sharif Mansour, stated that the Iranian authorities must recognise that they cannot disguise the widespread anti-government rallies by imprisoning journalists.
The Iranian government has been urged by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) to release all arrested journalists immediately and unconditionally. Last month, it was reported that the security forces had detained at least 28 journalists, including Hamedi.
Iranian’s fearless journalist
Friends of Hamedi characterised her as a fearless journalist who is fervently committed to advancing the rights of women. Her investigative writings address issues like self-immolation among battered women, and she spoke with the family of Iranian writer and artist Sepideh Rashno, who was detained in July for disobeying the Islamic dress code.
The Revolutionary Guards repeatedly attacked their outposts in neighbouring Iraq during the most recent upheaval, which the Iranian government has attributed to a variety of adversaries, including armed Iranian Kurdish rebels.
Read More: International Girl Child Day: The Unseen Barriers of Women Risers
