ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two journalists jailed over a year ago for covering anti-government protests have asked to be released after expressing “remorse” for their actions, claimed Iran's judiciary on Tuesday.
“By writing a letter to the head of the Judiciary, Elaha Mohammadi and Nilufar Hamedi expressed regret for their actions in the years before their arrest and asked for forgiveness,” the state-owned IRNA cited a statement from the Judiciary Media Center.
Hamedi, 31, was handed a seven-year jail sentence for collaborating with the US while Mohammadi, 36, was given a six-year term, Iran's judiciary said in October 2023.
Both were also given five-year sentences for conspiring to commit crimes and propaganda against Iran, it added.
“The letter of regret and remorse … has been received for further investigation and judicial decision and is under investigation and judicial decision-making,” IRNA reported.
The two journalists covered the death in custody of Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini, which sparked countrywide protests more than two years ago.
Amini, 22, died on September 16, 2022 after being arrested for allegedly wearing a lax hijab. Her death sparked Iran’s largest protest movement in the past four decades, initially calling for greater freedoms for women before turning into a full-scale antigovernment revolution. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands arrested as authorities initiated a brutal crackdown on dissent.
Forced confession is a strategy often used by the Islamic republic, especially after the Jin Jiyan Azadi (Women, Life and Liberty) movement, to target detained protesters. The individuals were accused of being linked to “foreign intelligence services” and “spying for a foreign country.”
Executions also frequently follow convictions that are based on confessions condemned by rights groups as often extracted under duress.
In May last year, the US rejected any ties to Hamedi and Mohammadi as “obviously not true,” blasting Iran for repeated human rights violations and calling on the Islamic republic to end arbitrary detentions and sham trials.
They have both been held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison since September of last year.
According to the 2024 World Press Freedom Index issued by the Paris-based Reporters without Borders, a non-profit organization aiming to safeguard freedom of information, Iran is listed as 176 out of 180 in the world, making it one of the worst countries in the world for press freedom.
