No Information about Iranian Journalist Mohammadi’s Case, Husband Says

The husband of jailed Iranian journalist Elahe Mohammadi has expressed his frustration at the lack of information about his wife's case and at the violations of her rights by the judiciary.

"We met with every official we could, wrote numerous letters, and spent hours and days waiting outside Evin prison, the prosecutor's office and the offices of relevant officials," her husband Saeed Parsaei wrote on his Instagram account April 16. 

"They made promises numerous times, but despite many visits, neither has our lawyer been granted access to the case nor have we received any answers or responses. We remain in the same state of uncertainty as on the first day," he added. 

Mohammadi, a journalist for the Hammihan newspaper, was arrested in September 2022 for covering the events surrounding the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, which sparked an ongoing wave of nationwide protests against the country’s clerical establishment.

In October, Iranian authorities accused Mohammadi and another jailed journalist, Nilofar Hamedi, of being spies for the United States and of being the “primary sources of news for foreign media.” The two journalists face the death penalty if charged and convicted of espionage.

Dozens of journalists have been detained across Iran since the middle of September. Some of them have been released. Others have been summoned, threatened and had their electronic equipment seized.

Known for its harsh Internet censorship, which includes banning thousands of websites, the Islamic Republic has on a large scale shut down the internet for most Iranians in an effort to prevent them from accessing and disseminating information online and from communicating safely.