Niloofar Hamedi ( fa, نیلوفر حامدی; born 22 October 1992) is an Iranian journalist who works for the reformist daily newspaper ''

Shargh ''Shargh'' ( fa, شرق, lit=East) is one of the most popular Reformist newspapers in Iran. History and profile ''Shargh'' was founded in 2003. The daily is managed by Mehdi Rahmanian. Its chief editor was Mohammad Ghouchani in its first period ...

''. She was arrested during the Mahsa Amini protests for breaking the news about Mahsa Amini and reporting on her treatment by Iran's

Morality Police Islamic religious police (also sometimes known as morality police or sharia police) are official Islamic vice squad police agencies, often in Islamic countries, which enforce religious observance and public morality on behalf of national or regi ...

. Hamedi is also known for her work as one of the first journalists to have interviewed the family and lawyer for imprisoned writer Sepideh Rashnu, and she published an investigative report on her case. '' Time'' magazine named her one of the

100 most influential people in the world ''Time'' 100 (often stylized as ''TIME'' 100) is an annual listicle of the 100 most influential people in the world, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, po ...

in 2023.

Report on Mahsa Amini and arrest

On 16 September 2022, Hamedi gained access to Kasra Hospital in Tehran, where 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was being treated following her detention by the

morality police Islamic religious police (also sometimes known as morality police or sharia police) are official Islamic vice squad police agencies, often in Islamic countries, which enforce religious observance and public morality on behalf of national or regi ...

for allegedly wearing her compulsory hijab inappropriately. Later that day, and around the time of Amini's death, Hamedi tweeted a photo of Amini's parents hugging and crying in the hospital. That picture quickly spread along with Hamedi's reporting on Amini's death, and eventually spiraled into nationwide protests. As a result of her news coverage, Hamedi was arrested by security forces on 21 September, following a wave of arrests that targeted journalists and students. Hamedi's Twitter account, where she had originally posted the influential photo of Amini's parents, was suspended without explanation. Her charges include colluding with the intention of acting against national security and propaganda against the state. According to Hamedi's lawyer, Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi, she has been interrogated and is being held in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...

at Tehran's Evin Prison. On 4 November 2022, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards and Intelligence ministry issued a joint statement, filled with unsubstantiated claims, accusing Hamedi and

Elaheh Mohammadi Elaheh Mohammadi ( fa, الهه محمدی) is an Iranian journalist who reports on society and women's issues for the daily ''Ham-Mihan'' newspaper. She has also worked with state-controlled media outlets such as ''Shahrvand'', Khabar Online a ...

, another female journalist who had reported on Amini's funeral, of being foreign agents engaged in “multi-dimensional wars” organized by “Western and Zionist intelligence agencies… to carry out serious and uninterrupted planning with the aim of influencing different social layers, especially in areas related to women”. The statement incorrectly claimed that Niloofar Hamedi, 30, had published a photo of Mahsa Amini in a hospital bed that went viral on social media. Yet Hamedi, who works for the Shargh newspaper in Tehran, never tweeted a photo of Amini in a hospital bed; she had only tweeted a photo of Mahsa’s parents (father and grandmother according to some reports) embracing in the hospital after her death.

Recognition

Awards

* International Press Freedom Award by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), shared with

, February 2023 * 2023 Harvard's Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism, shared with Elaheh Mohammadi, March 2023 * 2023

UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize The UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, created in 1997, honours a person, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when ...

, Shared with

and Narges Mohammadi.

Other recognitions

* Hamedi's photo of Mahsa Amini's father and grandmother embracing each other right after her death was selected the Photo of Year (for year 1401) by a group of renowned Iranian Afghan photojournalists, March 2023 * In April 2023, Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi were included in '' Time'' magazine's list of

100 Most Influential People in the World ''Time'' 100 (often stylized as ''TIME'' 100) is an annual listicle of the 100 most influential people in the world, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, po ...

Sources

Living people Iranian journalists Iranian women journalists Iranian prisoners and detainees 1992 births {{Iran-journalist-stub

Report on Mahsa Amini and arrest

Recognition

Awards

Other recognitions

See also

Sources