Latest news with #MyStealthyFreedom
CNN
21-03-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Jury convicts 2 men of plotting to assassinate an Iranian American journalist in New York
New York (AP) — A jury has convicted two men of plotting to assassinate Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad at her home in New York City in a murder-for-hire scheme that prosecutors said was financed by Iran's government. The verdict was returned at a federal court in New York on Thursday, ending a two-week trial that featured dramatic testimony from a hired gunman and Alinejad, an author, activist and contributor to Voice of America. Prosecutors said the convicted men, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, were crime bosses in the Russian mob. Their lawyers argued that they were innocent and trial evidence was flawed. Alinejad, 48, was targeted by Iran for her online campaigns encouraging women there to record videos of themselves exposing their hair in violation of edicts requiring they cover it in public. Iran offered $500,000 for a July 2022 killing of Alinejad after efforts to harass, smear and intimidate Alinejad failed, prosecutors said. American officials have accused Iran of backing several assassination plots in the United States, including against President Donald Trump when he was campaigning last year. Tehran has denied being behind any plots to kill people in the U.S. Alinejad, who was not in court, told The Associated Press she cried when she learned about the verdict. 'I am relieved that after nearly three years, the men who plotted to kill me have been found guilty. But make no mistake, the real masterminds of this crime are still in power in Iran,' she said. Alinejad testified last week that she came to the United States in 2009 after she was banned from covering Iran's disputed presidential election and the newspaper where she worked was shut down. Establishing herself in New York City, she built an online audience of millions and launched her 'My Stealthy Freedom' campaign, telling Iranian women to send photos and videos of them exposing their hair when the morality police were not around. Soon, she said, she had inspired women to take to the streets in Iran on Wednesdays to peacefully protest, leading the government to arrest hundreds of them. The crackdown only caused her following to grow, however. At the trial, prosecutors said that by 2022, the Iranian government had enlisted organized crime figures, including Amirov and Omarov, to kill Alinejad. Khalid Mehdiyev, a former member of the Russian mob who lived in Yonkers and worked at a pizzeria, testified that he was hired as the hitman. Like Amirov and Omarov, he is from Azerbaijan, which shares a border and cultural ties with Iran. Mehdiyev, who cooperated with prosecutors after pleading guilty to multiple crimes, said he bought an AK-47 to kill Alinejad but the plan was foiled when his car was stopped by police and the gun was found in the back seat in July 2022. A doorbell camera at Alinejad's home recorded Mehdiyev standing on her front porch. Prosecutors have kept the investigation open. In October they announced charges against a senior Iranian military official and three others, none of whom are in custody. In a separate case, U.S. prosecutors in 2022 charged a man in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard with plotting to kill former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton. Iranian officials vowed to exact revenge against Trump and others in his former administration over the 2020 drone strike that killed the prominent Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. Alinejad said she has had to move nearly two dozen times since the assassination plot was discovered, at times feeling guilty that so many of her followers in Iran lack a safety net. That, she said, only 'makes me more determined to give voice to voiceless people.'
CNN
21-03-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Jury convicts 2 men of plotting to assassinate an Iranian American journalist in New York
New York (AP) — A jury has convicted two men of plotting to assassinate Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad at her home in New York City in a murder-for-hire scheme that prosecutors said was financed by Iran's government. The verdict was returned at a federal court in New York on Thursday, ending a two-week trial that featured dramatic testimony from a hired gunman and Alinejad, an author, activist and contributor to Voice of America. Prosecutors said the convicted men, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, were crime bosses in the Russian mob. Their lawyers argued that they were innocent and trial evidence was flawed. Alinejad, 48, was targeted by Iran for her online campaigns encouraging women there to record videos of themselves exposing their hair in violation of edicts requiring they cover it in public. Iran offered $500,000 for a July 2022 killing of Alinejad after efforts to harass, smear and intimidate Alinejad failed, prosecutors said. American officials have accused Iran of backing several assassination plots in the United States, including against President Donald Trump when he was campaigning last year. Tehran has denied being behind any plots to kill people in the U.S. Alinejad, who was not in court, told The Associated Press she cried when she learned about the verdict. 'I am relieved that after nearly three years, the men who plotted to kill me have been found guilty. But make no mistake, the real masterminds of this crime are still in power in Iran,' she said. Alinejad testified last week that she came to the United States in 2009 after she was banned from covering Iran's disputed presidential election and the newspaper where she worked was shut down. Establishing herself in New York City, she built an online audience of millions and launched her 'My Stealthy Freedom' campaign, telling Iranian women to send photos and videos of them exposing their hair when the morality police were not around. Soon, she said, she had inspired women to take to the streets in Iran on Wednesdays to peacefully protest, leading the government to arrest hundreds of them. The crackdown only caused her following to grow, however. At the trial, prosecutors said that by 2022, the Iranian government had enlisted organized crime figures, including Amirov and Omarov, to kill Alinejad. Khalid Mehdiyev, a former member of the Russian mob who lived in Yonkers and worked at a pizzeria, testified that he was hired as the hitman. Like Amirov and Omarov, he is from Azerbaijan, which shares a border and cultural ties with Iran. Mehdiyev, who cooperated with prosecutors after pleading guilty to multiple crimes, said he bought an AK-47 to kill Alinejad but the plan was foiled when his car was stopped by police and the gun was found in the back seat in July 2022. A doorbell camera at Alinejad's home recorded Mehdiyev standing on her front porch. Prosecutors have kept the investigation open. In October they announced charges against a senior Iranian military official and three others, none of whom are in custody. In a separate case, U.S. prosecutors in 2022 charged a man in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard with plotting to kill former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton. Iranian officials vowed to exact revenge against Trump and others in his former administration over the 2020 drone strike that killed the prominent Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. Alinejad said she has had to move nearly two dozen times since the assassination plot was discovered, at times feeling guilty that so many of her followers in Iran lack a safety net. That, she said, only 'makes me more determined to give voice to voiceless people.'
The Guardian
20-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Two men convicted of murder-for-hire plot against Iranian American journalist in New York
Two men have been found guilty of plotting to assassinate Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad at her home in New York City in a murder-for-hire scheme that prosecutors said was financed by the Iranian government. The verdict was returned at a federal court in New York on Thursday, ending a two-week trial that featured dramatic testimony from a hired gunman and Alinejad, an author, activist and contributor to Voice of America. Prosecutors said the convicted men, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, were crime bosses in the Russian mob. Their lawyers argued that they were innocent and trial evidence was flawed. Prosecutors said Alinejad, 48, was targeted by Iran for her online campaigns encouraging women there to record videos of themselves exposing their hair in violation of edicts requiring they cover it in public. Iran offered $500,000 for a July 2022 plot to kill Alinejad after efforts to harass, smear and intimidate her failed, prosecutors said. American officials have accused Iran of backing several assassination plots in the United States, including against Donald Trump when he was campaigning last year. Tehran has denied being behind any plots to kill people in the US. Alinejad, who was not in court, told the Associated Press she cried when she learned about the verdict. 'I am relieved that after nearly three years, the men who plotted to kill me have been found guilty. But make no mistake, the real masterminds of this crime are still in power in Iran,' she said. Alinejad testified last week that she came to the United States in 2009 after she was banned from covering Iran's disputed presidential election and the newspaper where she worked was shut down. Establishing herself in New York City, she built an online audience of millions and launched her 'My Stealthy Freedom' campaign, telling Iranian women to send photos and videos of themselves exposing their hair when the 'morality police' were not around. Soon, she said, she had inspired women to take to the streets in Iran on Wednesdays to peacefully protest, leading the government to arrest hundreds of them. The crackdown only caused her following to grow, however. At the trial, prosecutors said that by 2022, the Iranian government had enlisted high-level Russian mobsters, including Amirov and Omarov, to kill Alinejad. Khalid Mehdiyev, a former member of the Russian mob who lived in Yonkers and worked at a pizzeria, testified that he was hired as the hitman. Like Amirov and Omarov, he is from Azerbaijan, which shares a border and cultural ties with Iran. Mehdiyev, who cooperated with prosecutors after pleading guilty to multiple crimes, said he bought an AK-47 to kill Alinejad but the plan was foiled when his car was stopped by police and the gun was found in the back seat in July 2022. Prosecutors have kept the investigation open. In October they announced charges against a senior Iranian military official and three others, none of whom are in custody.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jury convicts 2 men of plotting to assassinate an Iranian American journalist in New York
NEW YORK (AP) — A jury has convicted two men of plotting to assassinate Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad at her home in New York City in a murder-for-hire scheme that prosecutors said was financed by the Iranian government. The verdict was returned at a federal court in New York on Thursday, ending a two-week trial that featured dramatic testimony from a hired gunman and Alinejad, an author, activist and contributor to Voice of America. Prosecutors said the convicted men, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, were crime bosses in the Russian mob. Their lawyers argued that they were innocent and trial evidence was flawed. Prosecutors said Alinejad, 48, was targeted by Iran for her online campaigns encouraging women there to record videos of themselves exposing their hair in violation of edicts requiring they cover it in public. Iran offered $500,000 for a July 2022 killing of Alinejad after efforts to harass, smear and intimidate Alinejad failed, prosecutors said. American officials have accused Iran of backing several assassination plots in the United States, including against President Donald Trump when he was campaigning last year. Tehran has denied being behind any plots to kill people in the U.S. Alinejad, who was not in court, told The Associated Press she cried when she learned about the verdict. 'I am relieved that after nearly three years, the men who plotted to kill me have been found guilty. But make no mistake, the real masterminds of this crime are still in power in Iran,' she said. Alinejad testified last week that she came to the United States in 2009 after she was banned from covering Iran's disputed presidential election and the newspaper where she worked was shut down. Establishing herself in New York City, she built an online audience of millions and launched her 'My Stealthy Freedom' campaign, telling Iranian women to send photos and videos exposing of them exposing their hair when the morality police were not around. Soon, she said, she had inspired women to take to the streets in Iran on Wednesdays to peacefully protest, leading the government to arrest hundreds of them. The crackdown only caused her following to grow, however. At the trial, prosecutors said that by 2022, the Iranian government had enlisted high-level Russian mobsters, including Amirov and Omarov, to kill Alinejad. Khalid Mehdiyev, a former member of the Russian mob who lived Yonkers and worked at a pizzeria, testified that he was hired as the hitman. Like Amirov and Omarov, he is from Azerbaijan, which shares a border and cultural ties with Iran. Mehdiyev, who cooperated with prosecutors after pleading guilty to multiple crimes, said he bought an AK-47 to kill Alinejad but the plan was foiled when his car was stopped by police and the gun was found in the back seat in July 2022. Prosecutors have kept the investigation open. In October they announced charges against a senior Iranian military official and three others, none of whom are in custody.
CNN
20-03-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Prosecutor says at trial that Iran put $500,000 bounty on head of Iranian-American journalist
The government of Iran put a $500,000 bounty on the head of an outspoken Iranian-American journalist to fund an assassination plot to silence her, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday at the closing of a murder-for-hire trial. The purported hitman was arrested in July 2022 before he could kill journalist Masih Alinejad, leading to a trial of two Russian mobsters who organized the murder plot, Assistant US Attorney Michael Lockard told a Manhattan federal jury. Lockard spoke a day after Alinejad testified that she endured a barrage of threats after launching online campaigns from her Brooklyn home to inspire women in Iran to rebel against government edicts. Alinejad left Iran for America in 2009 after the country's disputed presidential election, quickly building a social media following of millions of people worldwide. She said she got deluged by videos sent to her by women in Iran after she challenged them to film themselves with their hair exposed when Iran's morality police were not around. Her campaign, dubbed 'My Stealthy Freedom,' encouraged women to rebel against Iran's edict that their hair must always be covered in public with a hijab to conform to religious requirements. Lockard said the government of Iran labeled the journalist as an enemy of the state and for years tried to harass, smear and intimidate Alinejad. 'When those efforts failed, the government of Iran put a $500,000 bounty on her head,' he said. He said two high-level members of the Russian mob — Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov — were paid by the government of Iran to organize a plot to kill Alinejad in 2022. The evidence, he added, was overwhelming. The men, both natives of Azerbaijan, did not commit any of the multiple crimes they were charged with, their lawyers told the jury in closing arguments. Attorney Michael Martin, representing Amirov, said there was no dispute that Iran was targeting Alinejad, but his client was not part of any plot. He attacked the credibility of Khalid Mehdiyev, who testified last week that he was paid $30,000 to kill Alinejad, but his task was interrupted when police pulled him over for rolling through a stop sign. A loaded AK-47 was in his backseat. Martin called Mehdiyev a 'manipulative, violent, lying person.' Attorney Elena Fast, representing Omarov, said Mehdiyev was a 'clown as a hitman' who never intended to kill Alinejad. 'This was a plan to scam and not to murder,' she said, claiming that anyone communicating about a plot was merely trying to collect money offered for a killing with no intent to do anything in return. After prosecutors deliver a rebuttal argument on Thursday, instructions on the law will be read to the jury, which will begin to deliberate afterward.
