Iranian journalist who uncovered Mahsa Amini story denies charges against her

Both Nilofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi went on trial this week after covering young woman's death

People hold up banner and a portrait of Mahsa Amini, who died following her arrest by the Iranian morality police in September 2022, during a demonstration in Paris. EPA

An Iranian reporter on Wednesday denied all charges against her as her trial opened in Tehran, fending off accusations that have led to the death penalty for previous regime critics.

Nilofar Hamedi was one of two journalists to first report on the case of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who died after being detained by police over wearing her hijab “inappropriately”.

She later fell into a coma and died in hospital, with her family and activists saying she died as a result of being beaten.

Her death sparked nationwide street protests that continued until earlier this year.

“Today's court session was devoted to the reading of the indictment and the written and oral answers of the client to the questions of the judge,” Hamedi's lawyer, Parto Borhanpour, told the reformist Shargh newspaper, where she worked.

“There was no time for the oral defence of the lawyers,” she said, but added they were able to present the court with their objections and requests.

The defence objected to “Hamedi's lack of access to a lawyer during her detention” and called for the trial to be held “publicly”.

The session, held on Tuesday, “ended in less than two hours while her lawyers did not get a chance to defend her and her family members were not allowed to attend the court”, Hamedi's husband, Mohammad Hossein Ajorlou, said on Twitter.

“She denied all the charges against her and emphasised that she had performed her duty as a journalist based on the law,” he said.

Hamedi told the court “she had performed her work as a journalist within the framework of the law and did not take any action against Iran's security”, her husband said.

Her lawyers also objected to her continued detention despite “the completion of the preliminary investigation stage”.

She was detained on September 20 after reporting from the hospital where Ms Amini had spent three days before her death.

Since Ms Amini's death, hundreds have been killed – mostly protesters but also members of the security forces – and thousands arrested. Iran earlier this year said 15,000 people had been detained in the wake of the protests.

International protests

Activists around the world railed against the regime following the news of Ms Amini's death, many cutting off their hair in protest in the first few months.

People demonstrated in London, Rome, Madrid and other western cities in solidarity with Iranian protesters, holding pictures of Ms Amini.

Civil society groups and human rights activists condemned the repression of the anti-government protests and demanded the release of detained political prisoners and an immediate halt to executions.

The UN reported that, since the beginning of 2023, at least 203 Iranians sentenced to death have been hanged.

The protest movement has calmed over the past few months, although isolated acts of defiance are still reported.

Another female journalist, Elaheh Mohammadi, who went on trial on Monday, faces several charges including “colluding with hostile powers” for their coverage of Ms Amini’s death.

Iran's intelligence ministry in October accused both journalists of being CIA foreign agents.