NYC journalist targeted in alleged murder-for-hire plot by Iran's government takes stand in trial
Masih Alinejad, an Iranian dissident and journalist who is now a United States citizen, took the stand Tuesday in the trial of the men accused of trying to kill her.
Prosecutors say it was an assassination plot by Iran's government.
Who is Masih Alinejad?
Alinejad, a journalist and women's rights activist, says she left the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2009 after they took her passport and made her sign an agreement that she would not cover the election there. She moved to the U.S. and covered it from here.
Alinejad, who was a contributor for Voice of America, was asked if the regime made accusations against her because of that contract.
She told the court, "I've been accused of being an agent of the CIA," MI6 and President Trump, among other things.
In 2022, she was involved in two campaigns: boycotting Iranian sporting events, and a day of action calling on women in Iran to remove their hijab.
She told the court, "My social media is like my weapon." She said her accounts were a place where she posted videos women sent her from Iran of themselves walking unveiled and getting harassed by the morality police.
That same year, prosecutors say there was a plot by Iran's government to assassinate her.
2 plead not guilty to murder-for-hire charges
Rafat Amirov and Poland Omaroy have pleaded not guilty to charges that include murder-for-hire.
One man who took a plea deal and testified for the government says he was in the Russian mob and was hired to kill Alinejad. He took pictures and videos inside her Brooklyn home and was arrested nearby for rolling past a stop sign. An AK-47 was in his backseat.
Alinejad described seeing him talking on a phone one day outside her home.
"I saw the big guy," she said. "He was gigantic."
Outside court, Alinejad said she couldn't comment, but her husband spoke.
"She's in great spirits, having a chance to come face to face with the people who ordered her killing," Kambiz Foroohar said. "I'm hopeful that justice will be done."
Prosecutors say Alinejad has been the target of several plots by the government of Iran, including kidnapping.
