Iran- 3 Imprisoned Women Journalist Win UN Press Freedom Award

Last updated on September 20th, 2023 at 11:11 am

Three detained Iranian female journalists received the UN’s top press freedom award on Tuesday evening “for their commitment to truth and accountability.”

Let’s Know More about the 3 Imprisoned Women Journalist who Win UN Press Freedom Award , in Iran

According to the Associated Press, Elaheh Mohammadi, who wrote about Mahsa Amini’s funeral, and Niloufar Hamedi, who reported that the 22-year-old died in morality police custody last September while wearing her headscarf too loosely, won. 

Amini’s death sparked months-long protests in dozens of Iranian cities. The demonstrations posed one of the biggest threats to the Islamic Republic since the 2009 Green Movement rallies that drew millions.

Narges Mohammadi, a longtime journalist, and activist, is the third winner.

Guillermo Cano, a Colombian journalist assassinated in front of his newspaper El Espectador in Bogota on December 17, 1986, received the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation World Press Freedom Prize. Since 1997, the prize has been awarded on World Press Freedom Day, May 3.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay announced the winners in New York, saying, “Now more than ever, it is important to pay tribute to all women journalists who are prevented from doing their jobs and who face threats and attacks on their safety.”

The international jury’s chair, Zainab Salbi, called the three winners’ bravery a “historical women-led revolution.”

Salbi said they paid a high price for reporting the truth. “And for that, we are committed to honoring them and ensuring their voices will continue to echo worldwide until they are safe and free,” she added. 

In late April, Iran’s judiciary charged Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, the reporters who broke Amini’s death, with working with the US, violating national security, and spreading “propaganda against the system.” 

Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi’s coverage of the outrage after Amini’s death was crucial despite nearly 100 journalists being detained during the protests. Hamedi works for Shargh, while Mohammadi and Hamedi work for Ham-Mihan.

Since protests began, Iranian human rights activists estimate 529 deaths.

UNESCO reports that Narges Mohammadi is serving a 16-year sentence in Evin Prison after multiple arrests. Her opposition to Iran’s death penalty, the world’s leading executioner, has garnered international praise. 

According to UNESCO, she is the deputy director of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre, a Tehran-based civil society group. According to the UN office, she has interviewed other women prisoners for her book, “White Torture,” and continues to publish articles from prison.