Iranian journalist seized after reporting on Mahsa Amini funeral

A journalist who reported on Mahsa Amini‘s funeral has been seized by police in Iran.

Elahe Mohammadi (pictured) – a reporter for the pro-reform Hammihan newspaper – had been summoned to face the judicial authorities.

But she was arrested on the way there on Thursday, 29 September, according to the newspaper.

The Iranian Journalists’ Association has called for all journalists who have been arrested for covering the protests to be released.

While no figures have been released, it is feared dozens of reporters may have been detained so far.

Mohammadi’s arrest has also been confirmed by her lawyer, Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi.

Her arrest comes after the Iranian authorities detained journalist Nilufar Hamedi of the Shargh daily newspaper, who went to the hospital where Mahsa was in a coma.

Mohammadi covered Mahsa’s funeral after the 22-year-old died in hospital after three days in a coma following her arrest by Iran’s morality police.

Mahsa was declared brain dead and died in hospital three days after apparently being beaten by Iran’s morality police.

She had been detained for what was described as a ‘re-education class’ after she was arrested next to a metro station in Tehran for failing to adhere to Iran’s strict hijab rules on 13th September.

Hours later she was in hospital with a skull fracture “caused by a direct blow” and internal bleeding, according to hacked CT scans obtained by a London-based news organisation known as Iran International.

Doctors went on to say that Mahsa had blood and fluid in her lungs because she went into a coma soon after receiving a blow to the head, according to the news organisation.

United States National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, wrote in a tweet that Iranian authorities should be held accountable for human rights violations.

Tehran officials reportedly at first said that Mahsa died of a heart attack and went on to say that she suffered from epilepsy, a claim that her father has denied.

All women, including tourists, have had to wear a headscarf in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Mahsa’s death caused outrage around the world and sparked protests in Iran, with the country shutting down parts of the internet in a bid to disrupt the growing protest movement.

A growing list of celebrities have voiced their support for the protests and for Mahsa.

They include former First Lady of the United States and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, British Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner, American model Bella Hadid, Hollywood icon Sharon Stone, pop star Justin Bieber, Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain, Kim Kardashian, Turkish singer Melek Mosso, Penelope Cruz, Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, actress Eva Mendes, and the British Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling, among others.

Topics in this article : Iran