Less than 24 hours after a 15-year prison sentence was handed down to photojournalist Yalda Moaiery, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, Chief Justice of the Islamic Republic, praised journalists, characterizing them as individuals who operate without defenses.
Mohseni-Ejei stated: “Combatants on the front lines sometimes sit in fortified trenches, but a journalist goes into the heart of battle with their head held high and camera in hand to gather accurate and correct news.”
These remarks were delivered less than a day after Yalda Moaiery announced that she had been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Security forces searched Moaiery’s home in February, confiscating her electronic devices and instructing her to report to the Shahid Moghaddas Court. Her phone line had previously been blocked on orders from the Ministry of Intelligence.
Moaiery was previously arrested on September 21, 2022, on Hejab Street in Tehran during protests following the death of Mahsa Amini. At that time, the Judiciary’s Media Center cited “anti-security charges and supporting riots” as the grounds for her arrest.
