Detained Iranian Journalist Says She Is ‘Proud Of Her Work’

In a recent statement, the activists expressed their concerns about what they view as a systematic process of subjecting women to degrading sentences. "The issuance of such demeaning sentences against women appears to be a deliberate and systematic endeavor," the statement from the human rights group declared.

At the heart of the activists' condemnation lies the government's reliance on compulsory hijab, which humiliates women and places them unfavourably in the spotlight. The group suggests that by resorting to tactics of humiliation, rather than opting for traditional imprisonment, the Islamic Republic aims to minimize potential political consequences on the international stage and therefore aims to maintain a favorable international image, despite the suffering of women.

The statement included a comment from an anonymous but courageous Iranian woman: "We are forced to engage in a battle that has been imposed upon us, but as Iranian women, we have shown that we are not afraid of any struggle until we attain our rights," she said.

Furthermore, the group drew attention to specific sentences that are only imposed upon women, such as being subjected to carrying out free janitorial services, washing dead bodies, and enforced visits to psychologists, all of which are perceived as “deeply troubling and unacceptable”.

Despite facing increasing pressures, civil activists opposing compulsory hijab continue their struggle and civil institutions are actively amplifying their voices on the global stage, underlining the unwavering determination of those advocating for gender equality and human rights in Iran.

Iranian opponents of the Islamic Republic on Monday accused the Hanover-based International Neuroscience Institute of expunging the patient record of the “hanging judge” Hossein-Ali Nayeri who was involved in the massacre of hundreds of political prisoners in 1988. 

Germany’s largest paper, the mass circulation Bild, reported that INI deleted Nayeri’s medical record in apparent move to avoid a new pro-Iran regime scandal. The director of the INI, Dr.Madjid Samii, scrambled to deny the allegation that he was caught again treating a regime official responsible for severe human rights abuses.

“There are currently no patients from Iran at the INI. These allegations damage our reputation, and not for the first time,” said Samii, according to the regional paper HAZ.

Samii, who was born in Tehran in 1937, faced widespread outrage in 2018 for providing care to Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi at INI. Shahroudi headed the Islamic Republic’s opaque judiciary from 1999 to 2009 and imposed executions on 2,000 people, including adolescents. Germany’s government permitted Shahroudi to leave the country after his treatment.

Samii told the HAZ that “As a doctor, I have an obligation to treat every patient, even it is Putin.”

Jason Brodsky, policy director of the US-based United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI), tweeted a report from the German paper Die Welt that said “According to eyewitnesses, two vehicles with license plates of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran were in the parking lot of the clinic [INI]last Friday.”

The Iranian-German dissident, Dr. Kazem Moussavi, told Iran International that Samii is a “well-known friend of the mullahs” and also treated former Iranian regime judge Gholamreza Mansouri in 2020. Mansouri incarcerated 20 journalists during his tenure. The regime-controlled Young Journalists Club reported at the time that Mansouri “is said to be hospitalized in Professor[Majid] Samii's hospital in Germany.”

Moussavi added, “As an Iranian member of the opposition and spokesman for the Green Party of Iran in Germany, I sharply criticize the Federal government and Green Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock for regrettably turning Germany into a secret place of treatment for the mullahs' death judges. He [Nayeri] is being treated in a German city of all places, in Hanover, where the Germanpolitical hostage awaiting his execution in Tehran, Jamshid Sharmahd, lived with his family.” 

Moussavi said the German “Federal government must end its appeasement policy” toward Iran’s regime and called for the immediate arrest of Nayeri. 

The Bild paper also took the German government to task for its policies that reportedly placate Tehran’s rulers. “Sweden shows that there is another way: Hamid Nouri, a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards and Nayeri’s assistant, was arrested [in Sweden] in 2019. Despite protests from Tehran, Nouri was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2021 for torture and murder.”

Moussavi said that Nayeri ”has served as chief adviser to the Islamic Republic's death judge, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, since Ebrahim Raisi's presidency. Both are directly responsible for the political prisoners and those executed in the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests in Iran.”

The Bild reported that Iranians, who live in Germany and were victimized by Nayeri, filed criminal complaints against the cleric and judge. The human rights activist Mina Ahadi told the paper “Many of his traumatized victims are here in Germany, you meet them everywhere.”

Amnesty International classified the 1988 massacre as a “crimes against humanity” in which the regime slaughtered at least 5,000 political prisoners. Nayeri issued summary executions to hundreds of political prisoners at Evin and Gohardasht prisons.

The Iran People’s Tribunal on Monday wrote on its website that it filed a case against Nayeri at the Berlin Prosecutor’s Office. Four witnesses are part of the Tribunal’s case who were taken to Nayeri’s “Death Committee” in 1988. The Tribunal said the Berlin Prosecutor forwarded the case to the Hanover Prosecutor who assigned the police to investigate. The police said Nayeri had not been admitted to the INI.

Mizan, an Iranian regime-controlled news agency affiliated to the judiciary, denied that Nayeri visited Germany.

Sheina Vojoudi, an Iranian dissident in Germany, termed Germany’s conduct toward admitting Iranian regime officials accused of grave human rights violations a “double standard.” 

She said, “How can Germany express its concern about human rights violations in Iran, yet let the human rights abusers who are responsible for thousands of innocent lives be hospitalized in Germany while there is no way for the persecuted Christians or political activists to apply for a German visa.”

She continued, “These ayatollahs who have been treated on German soil issued thousands of death sentences to innocent Iranians. Arresting these human rights abusers for their crimes against humanity is the least expected when they enter a democratic country.”

Vojoudi, an associate fellow for the Gold Institute for International Strategy, argued that “Iranian refugees in Germany fled to save their lives from the same Ayatollahs who always come to Germany for the best treatment.”

Iran International sent numerous press queries to the INI and the German Foreign Ministry.

The two journalists – from reformist Iranian dailies Sharq and Ham-Mihan – have been imprisoned for about 300 days because the regime blame them for the nationwide protests that followed the death of the Iranian Kurdish girl. Since her tragic death, Amini has become the icon of Women, Life, Liberty movement, the boldest uprising the regime has faced since its establishment.

The Islamic Republic is known to crack down on people who reveal corruption and wrongdoing in Iran, with authorities announcing that reporting the crimes is worse than the crimes themselves.

The Twitter and Instagram storm was instigated by the husbands of the two journalists -- Mohammad-Hossein Ajorlou and Saeed Parsaei ahead of their next trial hearings. Acting on the call, Iranians rose up with hashtags with the reporters’ names trending in addition to the campaign tag #JournalismIsNotACrime.

The two journalists, whose second court hearing is scheduled for later in the week, have been charged with propaganda against the regime and conspiracy to commit acts against national security, which could bear death sentences.

The duo have become symbols of free journalism and resistance against the regime’s oppressive rule, with a large number of people calling for freedom in their posts.

Hamedi, managed to visit Mahsa Amini in Tehran’s Kasra hospital and broke the news of her grave condition after being taken into the custody of the 'morality' police three days earlier for wearing her hijab “improperly”. Amini was in a coma at the time.

Mohammadi, likewise, managed to travel to Amini’s hometown of Saqqez in western Iran to report on her funeral on September 17, which thousands attended.

The first session of Mohammadi’s trial presided by the notorious judge Abolghasem Salavati was held behind closed doors at Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran late in May.

Hamedi’s hearing was held the following day by the same judge and in the same manner. Lawyers of the two journalists were not allowed to speak. The Iranian Constitution stipulates that trials of political prisoners and journalists should be public and with the presence of a jury.

A lot of well-known Iranian human rights activists have participated in the online campaign.

Arash Sadeghi, who has been arrested and jailed on multiple occasions for his activities in defense of human rights, said, “Journalism is not merely a profession; it's a belief in uncovering the truth. Whoever seeks to illuminate with the torch of truth will find their esteemed place in society.”

Rights activist Atena Daemi said on her Twitter page that “the killers of Gina (Mahsa) and thousands of other people are free, but those who expose these murders are being punished!" 

Shiva Nazarahari − Slovenia-based human rights activist and a founding member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters – said the two are among the most committed and active women advocates for women's rights in recent years, covering issues related to allowing women into sport stadiums, violence towards women, and advocating for reproductive rights. “We will not forget them,” she vowed.

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi said in her Telegram channel that "Niloufar and Elahe are innocent. They will remain exemplary models of commitment in journalism. We will not leave them alone."

The Telegram channel of the ultrahardliner Raja News claimed that “anti-Iranian media” are trying to “reduce” the arrest of the two journalists to their coverage of Mahsa Amini’s death. Meanwhile it has been trying to implicate the women in underground revolutionary activity and acting as foreign agents, the most common allegation levied at rights activists and those speaking out against the regime.

The outlet affiliated to the ultraconservative Paydari Front wrote that “reliable information” suggests the two “participated in training courses of institutions that seek the overthrow [of the Islamic Republic] and had connections with foreign intelligence services,”

Iran's intelligence ministry and SAS, the intelligence organization of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) even accused Mohammadi and Hamedi of being CIA agents. “Using the cover of a journalist, she was one of the first people who arrived at the hospital and provoked the relatives of the deceased and published targeted news,” they said in a joint statement.

The latest was online retailer Digikala whose office building was sealed and a renowned bakery has also been closed.

The incidents were prompted by the publication of pictures showing female employees of Digikala’s online shop without hijab, sparking demands from hardliners to take action against the company and its employees.

Following the publication of the photos, the Mizan news agency, affiliated with the judiciary, reported that a court case had been filed against the employees. Police officers sealed the company's building on Sunday evening, citing the refusal of some female employees to comply with the mandatory hijab. Despite the sealing of the office building, Digikala said operations continue.

In addition, France Confectionery, a renowned bakery in Tehran, also made headlines by announcing its closure. Although the reason was not explicitly mentioned, speculation suggested employees had also forgone the hijab. It is one of many companies targeted by the regime which has closed innumerable businesses where either employees or customers had broken hijab rules.

The incidents come amid a recent trend of women choosing to opt out of the mandatory hijab, spurred by the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests and the tragic death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of morality police.

In response to this civil disobedience, Iranian authorities have taken various measures, including sealing commercial and recreational centers, barring women without hijab from public services, issuing warnings, and even resorting to car seizure and violent arrests. However, these measures have so far been ineffective in quelling the growing defiance among Iranian women.

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“The revival of the hijab patrols, under any label and by different methods will erode public trust,” Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi, a member of parliament’s national security committee, told local media Sunday.

At the same time, the Islamic Republic’s parliament has expanded a proposed hijab bill from 15 to 70 articles, another lawmaker announced Sunday. 

Anti-regime protests that began last September changed the mood of women who were more or less abiding by the clerical government’s compulsory hijab rules. For months now, thousands of women in cities are simply ignoring the requirement to cover their heads with long scarves and dress according to the government requirements.

Authorities who faced the most serious challenge to their rule in 44 years, backed down from confronting these women, fearing renewed protests. But this month they decided to re-deploy the morality or hijab police in the streets and immediately street confrontations began.

Jahanabadi said that the hijab crackdown is an insult to the people and will lead to more emigration of educated and professional groups from the country. Hijab police patrols will also create public fear and will agitate the people and turn to a new challenge for the Islamic Republic.

Other politicians and pundits have also warned that hijab crackdown can lead to new anti-regime protests, similar to when the killing of Mahsa Amini in September last year sparked unexpected nationwide protests. Although the unrest was triggered by an incident over hijab, but the underlying driving force was overall frustration with repression in general and economic hardship.

Jahanabadi did refer to the “deeply wounded” populace, that daily hears about “embezzlement, corruption and nepotism,” and also has to put up with an obligatory Islamic dress code. He implied in his remarks that those who continue to annoy and anger the people should know that they are sowing the seeds of “regime change.”

Hardliners, however, having the backing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei are determined to force women to back down. One explanation is that they want to subdue any dissent ahead of the protest anniversary in September. 

Women and young people is what the regime fears most. Reports on Saturday said that security officials want to make sure the universities are pacified before September.

“The enemy has not given up. They’ve said that universities are the first place where new riots should begin,” the official in charge of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representatives in universities across the country, Mostafa Rostami, said at a gathering Friday.

In advocating for preventive measures, Rostami said, “They will completely be defeated if they can’t do something on the anniversary of last year’s riots.”

Although by killing more than 500 protesters and detaining more than 20,000 security and intelligence forces were able to stop street protests earlier this year, they are aware that the potential for another flare-up is real. The hijab crackdown now is some sort of tactic preferring to attack rather than be on the defensive.

At the same time, activists both inside Iran and abroad have been discussing on social media the importance of the protest anniversary to show the regime that the movement is alive and strong.