Iranian dissident Masih Align was proposed to testify in the trial of men accused of conspiring to kill her

New York (AP) – MASIH ALINJADThe charismatic Iranian dissident and journalist who, according to prosecutors, was attacked by the government of his former homeland for murder, will testify Tuesday in the trial of two accused men in the plot.

Align, author and taxpayer to Voice of AmericaHe is scheduled to take the witness position at noon in a federal trial in Manhattan who has already presented the testimony of the man who says he was hired to kill her in the summer of 2022.

He fled from Iran after the played 2009 presidential elections in the country and became an American citizen in October 2019. In an opening statement last week, a prosecutor said he will testify why he faces the Iranian regime and why he refuses to go back. “

His testimony is presented at the Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov trial, Natives of Azerbaijan, who shares a border and cultural ties with Iran. Men declared themselves innocent of multiple positions, including rent for rent.

The defense lawyers of Amirov and Omarov have told the jury that the evidence of prosecutors was simply circumstantial.

Khalid Mehdiyev, a government witness who says he worked for the Russian mafia before and after he arrived in the United States from Azerbaijan, was arrested after his car was arrested near Brooklyn’s house by Align to overcome a high sign. An AK-47 style rifle was found in its rear seat.

He testified by the Government after declaring himself guilty of multiple positions in the courts of Brooklyn and Manhattan, including murder attempts, conspiracy and arms charges.

Mehdiyev, testifying in a monotonous, said he was paid $ 30,000 of the $ 160,000 who expected him to be paid to kill align. To prepare for work, he took photographs and video images outside his residence in Brooklyn, where he sometimes made surveillance for hours a day.

He testified that he approached her on social networks, congratulating her as “the best journalist.”

When asked why he approached, he replied: “He was trying to talk with her to be able to enter her life.

As he testified last week, Align published on social networks that he was “overwhelmed with mixed emotions.”

“It may be difficult to believe, but to simply publish videos of myself showing my hair and encourage women in Iran to do the same, the regime sent a man with an AK-47 to my house in Brooklyn to kill me,” he said.

It was an issue delivered to the jury by the United States assistant prosecutor, Jacob Gutwillig, at the beginning of the trial.

He said Alinejad became a target of Iran after encouraging women in Iran to share messages and videos of women who protest the regime when refusing to use head or children, in public in Iran, subjecting them to arrest or hit the morality police of the country.

“She shared them with millions.

The judge of the trial told the jurors on Monday that they may be deliberators at the end of this week.