3 Imprisoned Iranian Women Journalists receive Awards from UN for Press Freedom

The UN's highest honour for press freedom was given to three Iranian women journalists who are now in custody "for their commitment to truth and accountability."

The winners are Elaheh Mohammadi, who wrote about Mahsa Amini's burial, and Niloufar Hamedi, who broke the news that the 22-year-old died in morality police custody last September while wearing her headscarf too loosely.

In hundreds of Iranian cities, months-long protests followed Mahsa’s passing. Since the 2009 Green Movement protests brought millions of people out into the streets, the demonstrations posed one of the most significant threats to the Islamic Republic.

As one of Iran's most well-known activists and a longtime journalist, Narges Mohammadi is the third winner.

The World Press Freedom Prize is established in honour of Guillermo Cano, a journalist from Colombia who was killed on December 17, 1986, in front of the Bogota headquarters of his daily El Espectador. Since 1997, the Award has been presented by Unesco on May 3 to coincide with World Press Freedom Day.

Audrey Azoulay, director general of Unesco, said this while presenting the winners at a ceremony in New York: "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."

According to Zainab Salbi, chair of the international jury of media specialists that chose the winners, the three victors' valiant efforts "led to a historical women-led revolution."

Salbi remarked, "They paid a heavy price for their devotion to report on and communicate the truth. And because of that, we're dedicated to remembering them and making sure their voices are heard all around the world until they are secure in their freedom.

Late in April, Iran's court reported that the two reporters who broke the news of Mahsa's dying, Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, had been accused of conspiring with the US, breaching national security, and disseminating "propaganda against the system."

Even though about 100 journalists had been imprisoned at the protests, Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi's work was crucial in the days that followed Mahsa's death to disseminate the word about the indignation that ensued. The reformist publications Ham-Mihan and Shargh, respectively, employ Elaheh and Hamedi.

International outcry over their detentions is a result of the security forces' harsh crackdown, which persisted for months following Mahsa's death. A report from Unesco says, Hamedi has been confined in solitary confinement since his arrest in Iran's Evin Prison in September together with Mohammadi.

Human rights advocates in Iran estimate that at least 529 people have died during protests since they started. Authorities have detained over 19,700 more people as part of a brutal crackdown meant to quell the unrest. While acknowledging that tens of thousands of people had been detained, Iran has been withholding overall casualty figures for months.

Narges Mohammadi has endured many government detentions and arrests; according to Unesco, she is currently incarcerated at Evin Prison receiving a 16-year sentence. Other nations have praised her for her efforts, particularly for standing up against the death penalty in Iran, which is still the world's top executioner.

According to Unesco, she serves as the deputy director of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre, a civil society organisation with offices in Tehran. According to the UN office, she also reportedly continues to write articles from prison and has conducted interviews with other female prisoners for her book "White Torture."