News Center- Iranian government has kidnapped, arrested and killed many human rights defenders to quell the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” protests that sparked in Iran and Rojhilat following the killing of Jina Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022. Journalists Saeideh Shafiei, Mehrnoush Henzaki, and Nasim Beigi were arrested in January 2023 on charges of “propaganda against the state” for supporting the national uprising and then they were released on bail.

The first hearing of the trial against the journalists was held by the Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran. The members of the Tehran Journalists’ Association and many press activists attended the hearing. The court has demanded a five-year prison sentence against the journalists under articles 500 and 610 of the Islamic Penal Code of Iran.

In their defense, the journalists denied all accusations against them saying that they did journalism based on human rights and social issues and this did not constitute a crime.

In January, Iranian security forces raided the house of Saeideh Shafiei, an economic journalist. The journalist was arrested in the house raid and transferred to Ward 2A in Evin prison in Tehran. Then, she was released on bail of 500 million tomans.

Revolutionary Guard agents arrested Mehrnoush Zarei Henzaki, who reports on health care and social issues for various Iranian outlets, at her mother’s home in Tehran on January 22. Authorities transferred her to Ward 2A in Evin prison in Tehran. She was released on bail in February.

On the evening of January 11, Revolutionary Guard agents detained Sultan Beigi at Imam Khomeini International Airport as she attempted to leave Iran. She was transferred to Ward 2A in Evin prison in Tehran. Then, she was released on bail in February. Sultan Beigi previously worked as a journalist with several Iranian publications, such as Shargh Newspaper, Arman, Iscanews, and Shahrvand.

The authorities had previously arrested Sultan Beigi when she was a student activist in 2006, when she was detained for almost two months, and again in 2007. She was detained again from 2012 to 2013, serving a prison sentence she had received for her activism.