Lawyers of Elahe Mohammadi and Niloufar Hamedi Claim Their Clients Are Eligible for 2022 Amnesty

Lawyers for Niloufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, journalists detained following the death of Mahsa Amini, state that their clients are covered by the 'amnesty decree announced in 2022.' Earlier, the spokesperson for the judiciary of the Islamic Republic had stated that the 'five-year prison sentence' for Niloufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, journalists for the newspapers Shargh and Ham-Mihan, would be enforced. Parto Borhanpour and Hojjat Kermani, lawyers for Niloufar Hamedi, announced on Sunday in an interview with 'Shargh Network' that 'the case of Niloufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi is unambiguously covered by the amnesty decree announced in 2022.' According to them, since the detention of these two journalists was due to the 'protests of 2022,' their charges should be 'subject to the amnesty decree.' Elahe Mohammadi's lawyer also stated on Tuesday, October 15, in an interview with Ham-Mihan newspaper that her client's case is covered by the 2022 amnesty decree and should be closed. Shahabuddin Mirloohi emphasized that, based on this, the enforcement of the prison sentence is legally meaningless and constitutes a clear violation of the general amnesty order issued by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic in 2022. According to this lawyer, 'currently, the implementation of the general amnesty order is a legal and natural right of the client and a duty of the relevant judicial authority,' and Elahe Mohammadi's case should be closed with 'the assistance of the relevant authorities and by issuing a suspension order.' The Iranian judiciary announced on February 5 last year that the Supreme Leader had agreed to 'amnesty and reduction of punishment' for 'tens of thousands' of detainees or individuals pursued in connection with the protests of 2022. However, protesters facing charges such as 'direct contact with foreign intelligence services' or other matters were not included in this amnesty. According to Niloufar Hamedi's lawyers, what had prevented the application of the announced amnesty decree in 2022 for their client was the charge of 'collaboration with the hostile foreign government of the United States' in her case, which was resolved with her acquittal and the final ruling of the Tehran Court of Appeals. Niloufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi were arrested following the coverage of Mahsa Amini's death in police custody and her burial in September 2022. Subsequently, on November 7, 2022, in a joint statement from the Ministry of Intelligence and the Intelligence Organization of the IRGC, the abbreviated names of Niloufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi appeared, identifying them as agents of Western intelligence services. The lawyers for Ms. Hamedi stated that their client 'was held in temporary detention for about seventeen months, and not only was there no apology for this matter, nor was there any action taken against the violators, but until now, there has been a prohibition on applying amnesty for her.' The court for Ms. Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi was held after seventeen months under Judge Salavati, and they were sentenced to five years in prison for 'collusion and conspiracy against national security' and one year for 'propaganda against the regime.' Now, the judiciary of the Islamic Republic states that their maximum punishment of five years in prison must be enforced. The Tehran Court of Appeals had converted the bail for these two journalists to 10 billion tomans each last December, and they were temporarily released.