Iranian Journalists Temporarily Released Face New Legal Case for Flouting Hijab 

People walk at the old bazaar in the city of Shahr-e Ray, south of Tehran, on January 8, 2024. (AFP)
People walk at the old bazaar in the city of Shahr-e Ray, south of Tehran, on January 8, 2024. (AFP)
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Iranian Journalists Temporarily Released Face New Legal Case for Flouting Hijab 

People walk at the old bazaar in the city of Shahr-e Ray, south of Tehran, on January 8, 2024. (AFP)
People walk at the old bazaar in the city of Shahr-e Ray, south of Tehran, on January 8, 2024. (AFP)

Iran's judiciary has opened a new case against two jailed female journalists for appearing without a hijab upon their temporary release from prison, the judiciary's Mizan news agency reported on Monday.

Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, respectively sentenced to 13 and 12 years in prison for their coverage of the death in custody of Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini in 2022, were released on Sunday temporarily after paying bail.

"After footage of the defendants without hijab was released online, a new case has been filed against them," Mizan said referring to a video widely shared on social media showing the two women celebrating their release with family outdoors.

The death of Amini after she was held by the morality police for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code, triggered months of nationwide anti-government protests, in one of the boldest challenges to the country's clerical leaders in decades.



Freed Spanish Hostage Set to Land in Algerian Air Base

Gilbert Navarro, a Spanish national who was kidnapped in south Algeria and transported by his captors to north Mali, is handed over to the Algerian authorities after he was freed by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), on the outskirts of Tinzaouaten, Mali, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/ Abdolah Ag Mohamed Purchase Licensing Rights
Gilbert Navarro, a Spanish national who was kidnapped in south Algeria and transported by his captors to north Mali, is handed over to the Algerian authorities after he was freed by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), on the outskirts of Tinzaouaten, Mali, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/ Abdolah Ag Mohamed Purchase Licensing Rights
TT

Freed Spanish Hostage Set to Land in Algerian Air Base

Gilbert Navarro, a Spanish national who was kidnapped in south Algeria and transported by his captors to north Mali, is handed over to the Algerian authorities after he was freed by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), on the outskirts of Tinzaouaten, Mali, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/ Abdolah Ag Mohamed Purchase Licensing Rights
Gilbert Navarro, a Spanish national who was kidnapped in south Algeria and transported by his captors to north Mali, is handed over to the Algerian authorities after he was freed by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), on the outskirts of Tinzaouaten, Mali, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/ Abdolah Ag Mohamed Purchase Licensing Rights

A plane carrying Spanish hostage Gilbert Navarro, who was kidnapped in North Africa on Jan. 17, was expected to land in Algeria's Boufarik air base, Algerian state media reported on Tuesday.
His expected arrival at the Algerian air base comes after a Tuareg rebel alliance in northern Mali said late on Monday they had released Navarro, Reuters said.
Spain's Foreign Ministry said on Friday that a Spanish man had been kidnapped in North Africa.
El Pais newspaper reported that the man was kidnapped in southern Algeria by an
extremist group and taken to Mali, though the Foreign Ministry did not confirm that information.
In a post on X, one of the leaders of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) said Spanish national Gilbert Navarro "kidnapped in Algeria a few days ago" and transported by his captors to north Mali had been freed by FLA forces on Monday. An FLA spokesperson, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, said on X that the FLA had freed Navarro, who was in good health, and that more details would follow.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Spain is in a dispute between Morocco and Algeria over the Western Sahara, which was controlled by Spain until 1975 and is now claimed by Morocco and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks its independence.