Iran frees lawyer of detained Mahsa Amini journalists: reports

Iran has released on bail a lawyer representing two detained journalists who reported Mahsa Amini's death that sparked nationwide unrest, local media reported Monday, after three weeks behind bars.

"Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi was released on bail from Fashafouyeh prison" south of Tehran, ILNA news agency and reformist daily Shargh reported.

Iranian media reported the lawyer's arrest on 17 December without specifying the charges against him.

The Islamic Republic has been rocked by protests since Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian, died in custody on 16 September after her arrest for allegedly violating the country's dress code for women. Her Kurdish first name can be spelt "Zhina" or "Jina".

Two journalists, Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, have been arrested after covering Amini's death and its aftermath. They are both Kamfirouzi's clients.

Hamedi, who works at Shargh newspaper, was detained on 20 September after visiting the hospital where Amini had spent three days in a coma before her death.

Mohammadi, a journalist at another reformist publication, Ham Miham, was taken into custody on 29 September after she travelled to Amini's hometown of Saqez in Kurdistan province to report her funeral.

The two women were charged on 8 November with propaganda against the state and conspiring against national security, offences that carry capital punishment.

In December, Shargh published a list of nearly 40 journalists and photojournalists arrested in Iran in connection with the protests.

Trigger warning: this video contains graphic execution images

Iranian authorities say hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed since the unrest began, and thousands have been arrested.

The judiciary has confirmed 17 death sentences have been issued over the unrest.

Four have already been executed and two other inmates are on death row after their sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court. All six were convicted of attacks on security forces.

The reformist daily Etemad reported on Friday the arrest of its journalist Mehdi Beikoghli who had published interviews with families of death row inmates.