Elahe Mohammadi, a journalist, has received a summons to report to Branch 1 of the Criminal Execution Office of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in District 33, Tehran, to serve her five-year prison sentence.
According to Kolbarnews, on Saturday, October 19, 2024, Elahe Mohammadi was summoned to begin her prison term. She has been ordered to report to Evin Prison within five days to serve the five-year sentence.
It is worth mentioning that today, the lawyers of another journalist, Niloofar Hamedi, also reported that she had been summoned to serve her five-year sentence.
On October 13, 2024, the Judiciary’s spokesperson announced that the cases of Elahe Mohammadi and Niloofar Hamedi had been sent to the execution branch. Mohammadi, a journalist with the “Ham-Mihan” newspaper, went to the city of Saqqez to report on the death of Jina (Mahsa) Amini. Hamedi, a journalist with the “Shargh” newspaper, was the first to publish a photo of Amini in a coma. Both were arrested in the early days of the 2022 nationwide protests. They were later transferred from Qarchak Prison in Varamin to Evin Prison.
In late October 2023, the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Salavati, sentenced the two journalists. Niloofar Hamedi was sentenced to seven years for “collaborating with the hostile government of the United States,” five years for “gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security,” and one year for “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Similarly, Elahe Mohammadi was sentenced to six years for “collaboration with the hostile government of the United States,” five years for “gathering and colluding against national security,” and one year for “propaganda against the Islamic Republic.”
In late August 2024, the Court of Appeals acquitted both journalists of the charge of “collaboration with the hostile government of the United States.” However, the other sentences from the preliminary trial—five years for “gathering and colluding against national security” and one year for “propaganda against the regime”—were upheld.
Under Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, the maximum sentence, meaning five years in prison, will be enforced for each journalist.
Finally, on January 14, 2024, Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi were released from Evin Prison on bail. Shortly after their release, the Judiciary’s media center announced a new legal case against them, citing their act of removing the hijab as the reason for the new charges.
