The Court of Appeal in Tehran Province has sentenced journalists Elaheh Mohammadi and Niloofar Hamedi to six years in prison each, according to a report by Shargh Newspaper. Initially, they had been sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison during their first trial.

Parto Borhanpour and Hojjat Kermani, representing Niloofar Hamedi, and Shahabeddin Mirlohi, representing Elaheh Mohammadi, announced that their clients were acquitted by the Court of Appeal of Tehran Province on the charge of “collaborating with the adversarial government of the United States.” However, the other charges were upheld: five years in prison for “assembly and collusion against national security” and one year in prison for “propaganda activity against the regime” for each of them.

Mirlohi stated, “According to the appeal court’s ruling, only the most severe sentence (i.e., five years in prison) is enforceable.” He added, “Given that the remaining two charges fall under the full conditions of the 2022 pardon directive, we hope that Elaheh Mohammadi will be granted a pardon and that this case will be closed.”

The defense lawyers for Niloofar Hamedi also commented on her case: “Hamedi has fortunately been acquitted of the charge of ‘collaboration with an adversarial government,’ and therefore, nothing should prevent her from receiving the 2022 pardon directive. Her case should be closed similarly to thousands of other cases in 2022.”

Niloofar Hamedi, a journalist with Shargh Newspaper, was the first to publish a photo of Mahsa Amini in a coma. Elaheh Mohammadi, a journalist with Ham-Mihan Newspaper, traveled to the city of Saqqez to report on Mahsa Amini’s death. Both were arrested in the early days of the nationwide protests in 2022. Shortly after their arrests, they were transferred from Qarchak Prison in Varamin to Evin Prison.

In late October of last year, these journalists were sentenced by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Salavati. Niloofar Hamedi was sentenced to seven years in prison for “collaborating with the adversarial government of the United States,” five years for “assembly and collusion to commit a crime against national security,” and one year for “propaganda activity against the regime.” Similarly, Mohammadi was sentenced to six years in prison for “collaborating with the adversarial government of the United States,” five years for “assembly and collusion to commit a crime against national security,” and one year for “propaganda activity against the regime.”

On January 14, 2023, Hamedi and Mohammadi were released from Evin Prison on bail. Shortly after their release, Mizan, the judiciary’s news agency, announced that another criminal case had been opened against them in the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office, citing their removal of the hijab as the reason for this new case.