Iran detains ‘unprecedented’ number of women journalists — media watchdog

Iran is systematically trying to silence women by arresting an unprecedented number of female journalists in its crackdown on protests over Mahsa Amini’s death, a media watchdog says.

“As the Iranian regime continues its crackdown on the protests initiated by Mahsa Amini’s death, almost half of all newly arrested journalists are women, including two who are facing the death penalty,” according to Reporters Without Borders.

“The increasing detention of female journalists symbolically reveals the Iranian regime’s intention to systematically silence women’s voices,” it says.

The Islamic Republic has been gripped by protests that erupted when Amini, 22, died in custody on September 16 after her arrest for an alleged breach of Iran’s strict dress code for women.

This week, it indicted Niloufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, two newspaper journalists who first drew public attention to Amini’s death, for “propaganda against the system and conspiracy to act against national security” — charges that can carry the death penalty.