The Take

They reported on Mahsa Amini’s death. Now, they’re on trial

Trials begin for Iranian journalists arrested after covering the death of woman in police custody.

A woman walks past a kiosk in Tehran — A kiosk in Tehran on October 30, 2022, displays copies of the Hammihan newspaper featuring a front-page story about a statement by the Tehran journalists association criticising the detention of two journalists, Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi [Atta Kenare/AFP]

In Iran’s Kasra Hospital, the parents of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini embraced in a hallway, grieving their daughter who died after being detained by the morality police. Journalist Niloofar Hamedi captured the moment in a photo and tweeted it out. Within the week, she was arrested. A week later, journalist Elaheh Mohammadi was also arrested after reporting from Amini’s funeral. Iran erupted in protests after Amini’s death, and demonstrators were met with a swift crackdown. Thousands of people were arrested, including Hamedi and Mohammadi, who remain imprisoned to this day. On May 29 and 30, their trials finally began behind closed doors. What will happen to these journalists whose reporting helped spark an uprising?