{
  "id": 149,
  "slug": "2024-iran-hamedi-mohammadi-sentenced",
  "title": "Iran: journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi are sentenced to 13 and 12 years",
  "occurred_on": "2024-01-17",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "IR",
  "country": "IR",
  "continent": "asia",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
  "leader_slug": "ebrahim-raisi",
  "issue_of_the_day": "Hamedi and Mohammadi had reported on the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died after being held by Iran's morality police for allegedly violating the country's mandatory dress code, reporting that helped ignite months of nationwide protests.",
  "outcome": "ongoing",
  "outcome_on": "2024-01-17",
  "outcome_note": "The two journalists were released on bail of about 200,000 dollars in January 2024 but remained banned from leaving the country.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2020s",
  "summary": "Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, who broke the story of Mahsa Amini's death in police custody, were sentenced to 13 and 12 years respectively on national-security-linked charges tied to their reporting, and later released on heavy bail.{c:594}{c:595}{c:596}",
  "what_happened": "Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, two Iranian journalists, were sentenced to 13 and 12 years in prison respectively on charges linked to their reporting on the September 2022 hospitalization and death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman held by Iran's morality police for allegedly violating the country's mandatory dress code. Hamedi's reporting for the newspaper Shargh and Mohammadi's for the newspaper Ham-Mihan had helped bring the case to national and international attention, contributing to protests that spread across Iran in the months that followed. After spending almost sixteen months in detention, the two journalists were granted bail of about 10 billion tomans, roughly 200,000 dollars, in January 2024, but were also barred from leaving the country. The Committee to Protect Journalists called for the release of all jailed Iranian journalists following the bail decision.{c:594}{c:595}{c:596}\n\nHamedi and Mohammadi were released on bail in January 2024 after almost sixteen months in detention, but remained barred from leaving Iran.{c:596}",
  "stated_justification": "Not stated in the sources reviewed as specific named charges; the source describes their sentences as \"linked to their reporting\" on Amini's death and the protests that followed.{c:594}{c:595}{c:596}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "Two journalists whose reporting had helped expose a death in police custody spent nearly sixteen months in detention and received sentences of 12 and 13 years before being released on heavy bail with a travel ban.{c:594}{c:595}{c:596}",
  "unknowns": "The source reviewed does not name the specific criminal charges under which the two journalists were sentenced.",
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-23T01:32:15Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 8,
  "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:16:52Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T02:21:03Z",
  "stage": "eliminate",
  "ladder_note": "Two journalists received sentences of 12 and 13 years for reporting a death in state custody, far beyond a license, credential or access restriction.",
  "country_name": "Iran",
  "tactics": [
    "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "ebrahim-raisi",
    "name": "Ebrahim Raisi",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/ebrahim-raisi"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-iran-hamedi-mohammadi-sentenced",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-23T01:32:15Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 3,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The source reviewed does not name the specific criminal charges under which the two journalists were sentenced."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "ebrahim-raisi",
      "name": "Ebrahim Raisi",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/ebrahim-raisi"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [
    {
      "slug": "ham-mihan",
      "name": "Ham-Mihan",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/ham-mihan"
    },
    {
      "slug": "shargh",
      "name": "Shargh",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/shargh"
    }
  ],
  "journalists": [
    {
      "slug": "elahe-mohammadi",
      "name": "Elahe Mohammadi",
      "outlet": "ham-mihan",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/elahe-mohammadi"
    },
    {
      "slug": "niloofar-hamedi",
      "name": "Niloofar Hamedi",
      "outlet": "shargh",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/niloofar-hamedi"
    }
  ],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 594,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 149,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "sentences of 13 and 12 years",
      "statement": "Hamedi and Mohammadi were sentenced to 13 and 12 years respectively on charges linked to their reporting on Amini's death.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 357,
      "evidence_quote": "sentenced to serve 13- and 12-years respectively on charges linked to their reporting",
      "evidence_date": "2024-01-17",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:32:12Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 357,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2024/01/cpj-calls-for-release-of-all-jailed-iranian-journalists-after-bail-granted-to-niloofar-hamedi-and-elahe-mohammadi/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2024/01/cpj-calls-for-release-of-all-jailed-iranian-journalists-after-bail-granted-to-niloofar-hamedi-and-elahe-mohammadi/",
        "title": "CPJ calls for release of all jailed Iranian journalists after bail granted to Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2024-01-17",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/594"
    },
    {
      "id": 595,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 149,
      "field": "scope_of_action",
      "value": "Mahsa Amini's death",
      "statement": "The journalists had reported on the 2022 hospitalization and death of Mahsa Amini, held in morality police custody over the dress code.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 357,
      "evidence_quote": "the 2022 hospitalization and subsequent death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, who was in morality police custody for allegedly violating Iran's conservative dress law",
      "evidence_date": "2024-01-17",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
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      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:32:13Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 357,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2024/01/cpj-calls-for-release-of-all-jailed-iranian-journalists-after-bail-granted-to-niloofar-hamedi-and-elahe-mohammadi/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2024/01/cpj-calls-for-release-of-all-jailed-iranian-journalists-after-bail-granted-to-niloofar-hamedi-and-elahe-mohammadi/",
        "title": "CPJ calls for release of all jailed Iranian journalists after bail granted to Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2024-01-17",
        "link_state": "live",
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    },
    {
      "id": 596,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 149,
      "field": "status",
      "value": "bail granted, January 2024",
      "statement": "The two journalists were granted bail of about 10 billion tomans after almost sixteen months in detention, and barred from leaving the country.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 357,
      "evidence_quote": "had to pay bail of 10 billion tomans",
      "evidence_date": "2024-01-17",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
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      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
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      "source": {
        "id": 357,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2024/01/cpj-calls-for-release-of-all-jailed-iranian-journalists-after-bail-granted-to-niloofar-hamedi-and-elahe-mohammadi/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2024/01/cpj-calls-for-release-of-all-jailed-iranian-journalists-after-bail-granted-to-niloofar-hamedi-and-elahe-mohammadi/",
        "title": "CPJ calls for release of all jailed Iranian journalists after bail granted to Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2024-01-17",
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      "id": 357,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2024/01/cpj-calls-for-release-of-all-jailed-iranian-journalists-after-bail-granted-to-niloofar-hamedi-and-elahe-mohammadi/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2024/01/cpj-calls-for-release-of-all-jailed-iranian-journalists-after-bail-granted-to-niloofar-hamedi-and-elahe-mohammadi/",
      "title": "CPJ calls for release of all jailed Iranian journalists after bail granted to Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2024-01-17",
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    {
      "id": 435,
      "url": "https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-sentences-two-women-journalists-charges-linked-amini-protests-2023-10-22/",
      "final_url": "https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-sentences-two-women-journalists-charges-linked-amini-protests-2023-10-22/",
      "title": "Iran sentences women journalists on charges over Amini protests",
      "publisher": "Reuters",
      "published_on": "2023-10-22",
      "link_state": "paywalled",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-23T02:35:35Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
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    {
      "id": 436,
      "url": "https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-10-22/iran-sentences-2-journalists-for-allegedly-collaborating-with-u-s-both-covered-mahsa-aminis-death",
      "final_url": "https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-10-22/iran-sentences-2-journalists-for-allegedly-collaborating-with-u-s-both-covered-mahsa-aminis-death",
      "title": "Iran sentences 2 journalists for allegedly collaborating with U.S.",
      "publisher": "Los Angeles Times",
      "published_on": "2023-10-22",
      "link_state": "paywalled",
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  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-iran-hamedi-mohammadi-sentenced/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Iran: journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi are sentenced to 13 and 12 years. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-iran-hamedi-mohammadi-sentenced. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}