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Iran Jails 2 Journalists for Covering Protests Sparked by Death of Mahsa Amini

Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi. (Shargh)
Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi. (Shargh)
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Iran Jails 2 Journalists for Covering Protests Sparked by Death of Mahsa Amini

Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi. (Shargh)
Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi. (Shargh)

An Iranian court sentenced two female journalists to years in prison for their coverage of the death in custody of Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini last year, state media reported on Sunday.

Amini’s death on September 16, 2022, after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for an alleged breach of Iran’s strict dress rules for women led to mass protests across the country.

The Mizan news agency, which is affiliated with the judiciary, reported that Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi were sentenced to 13 and 12 years in prison respectively on charges including collaboration with the US government and acting against national security.

Mohammadi, 36, was given six years in prison for collaboration with the United States and Hamedi, 31, was handed a seven-year term for the same offence, said Mizan.

The two were also given five-year sentences each for the conspiracy charges and one each for propaganda, the website said, adding the sentences would be served concurrently.

Mohammadi, a reporter for Ham Mihan newspaper, and Hamedi, a photographer for Shargh newspaper, have been held in Tehran’s Evin prison since September 2022, with their trials starting in May.

The verdict against them is subject to appeal, Mizan added.

Hamedi was detained after she took a picture of Amini's parents hugging each other in a Tehran hospital where their daughter was lying in a coma and Mohammadi after she covered Amini's funeral in her Kurdish hometown Saqez, where the protests began.

The ruling follows the sentencing on Tuesday of Amini’s lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, to one year in prison for propaganda against the state and speaking with foreign and local media about the case.

During the months-long Amini protests, several hundred people including security forces were killed and thousands were arrested over their participation in the demonstrations.

Seven men were also hanged over their links with the “riots”— the term Iranian officials use to describe the protests.

Last week, Shargh published an open letter in which over 200 Iran journalists and writers have demanded the release of Hamedi and Mohammadi.

The sentences were announced a week after the European Union parliament awarded its annual Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Amini and the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran.

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Japan and China Accuse Each Other of Violating Airspace Around Disputed East China Sea Islands

FILE - Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C Orion surveillance plane flies over the disputed islands, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea, on Oct. 13, 2011. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
FILE - Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C Orion surveillance plane flies over the disputed islands, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea, on Oct. 13, 2011. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
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Japan and China Accuse Each Other of Violating Airspace Around Disputed East China Sea Islands

FILE - Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C Orion surveillance plane flies over the disputed islands, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea, on Oct. 13, 2011. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
FILE - Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C Orion surveillance plane flies over the disputed islands, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea, on Oct. 13, 2011. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

Japan and China are accusing each other of violating the airspace around the Japanese-controlled East China Sea islands that Beijing also claims.
Japan´s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that it has protested to Beijing after a Chinese helicopter that took off from one of China´s four coast guard boats had entered Japan´s territorial waters around the Senkaku island, violating the Japanese airspace around them for about 15 minutes on Saturday.
In response to the airspace intrusion, Japan´s Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets, the Defense Ministry said.
China routinely sends coast guard vessels and aircraft into waters and airspace surrounding the islands, which China calls the Diaoyu, to harass Japanese vessels in the area and force Japan to scramble jets in response, The Associated Press said.
The latest territorial flap comes as Japan and China were appearing to have warm ties as both countries seek to mitigate damages from the US tariff war.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry said it lodged a "very severe protest" through the Chinese embassy in Japan, claiming that China Coast Guard actions infringed Japan´s sovereignty and urging the Chinese government to ensure preventive measures.
China also said in a statement that it took a similar step and protested to Japan over a Japanese civilian aircraft violating its airspace around the islands, saying it was "strongly dissatisfied" about Japanese violation of China´s sovereignty.
Japanese officials are investigating a possible connection between the Chinese coast guard helicopter´s airspace intrusion and the small Japanese civilian aircraft flying in the area around the same time.
Saturday´s intrusion was the first by China since a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft violated the Japanese airspace off the southern prefecture of Nagasaki. Chinese aircraft have also violated the Japanese airspace around the Senkaku twice in the past.