Protest in Iran a journalist arrested another convicted

Protest in Iran: a journalist arrested, another convicted

Iranian authorities have arrested a journalist and sentenced another to prison in connection with the protest movement sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, local media reported on Sunday.

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“The head of the social service of the daily newspaper Ham Mihan, Elnaz Mohammadi, was arrested in Tehran on Sunday after being summoned,” said the reformist newspaper Shargh without further information on its website.

Iran has faced a wave of protests since the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, after she was arrested in Tehran by vice squads who accused her of violating a strict dress code , which mandates the veiling of women in public .

Ms Mohammadi is the sister of journalist Ham Mihan Elaheh, who has been detained in Tehran’s Evin prison since September.

The judiciary charged Elaheh Mohammadi in November with “anti-system propaganda” and “conspiracy against national security” for reporting on the Mahsa Amini case.

In addition, the judiciary sentenced journalist Hossein Yazdi, who has been detained in Isfahan (centre) since December 5, to one year in prison, Shargh said.

Mr Yazdi was the director of the political news site Mobin 24, based in that city.

The Tehran Journalists Association said in early January that more than 30 Iranian journalists remained in prison in connection with the protests.

At the end of October, more than 300 Iranian journalists and photojournalists wrote an open letter criticizing the authorities for “arresting (their) colleagues and depriving them of their rights”, in particular “access to their lawyers”.