Iran's Supreme Court has pardoned two female journalists who exposed the death of a girl in police custody, which led to nationwide protests in 2022, Iran's Mizan news agency reported on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
In October 2023, the Iranian Revolutionary Court sentenced Niloofar Hamedi to 13 and Elaheh Mohammadi to 12 years in prison for their reporting on the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman who was detained by the morality police for allegedly violating strict dress codes.
"After Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini approved the pardon list prepared by the head of the judiciary, these individuals were pardoned," Mizan announced, adding that the pardons were granted on the 46th anniversary of the 1979 Iranian revolution.
Both journalists were temporarily released last year after 17 months in prison, and were later acquitted on appeal of charges of "collaboration with the United States."
Other charges, such as "conspiracy against national security" and "propaganda against the regime", remained, but have now been removed through pardons, and the legal proceedings against the journalists have been concluded.
Protests following the death of Mahsa Amini have led to the worst unrest in Iran since the revolution, Reuters reminds.
Authorities have blamed the United States for inciting the demonstrations, a charge Washington has denied.
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