The journalist Mashi Alinejad testifies in the trial of possible murderers

A journalist from Iran testified on Tuesday at the trial of two men accused of hiring a hired killer to kidnap and kill her in 2022 for his criticisms of the Iranian regime.

Mashi Align testified for more than two hours at the Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov trial in the Federal Court in New York City. Men declared innocent of multiple positions, including murder.

American prosecutors say that the murder plot was orchestrated from Iran to prevent Align from talking about human rights abuses in their country of origin.

“We have no free media in Iran,” he said, counting his years covering politics as a young journalist who frequently faced with the country’s authorities who sought to control the news he produced.

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MASIH ALINJAD blows a kiss to supporters outside the federal court after testifying in the trial of his possible murderers in New York, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Alinejad moved to the United States in 2009 after the disputed presidential elections of Iran. In the United States, Align launched online campaigns to encourage women in Iran to pose for photos and videos that show their hair, challenging a religious rule that requires a handkerchief on the head.

Alinejad, who appeared on the pump with curly and black hair, said that in Iran a cleric had once told him: “I’m going to hit you on your face if you don’t cover your right hair.”

Masih Alinejad greets friends and followers outside the Federal Court after testifying in the trial of two men accused of supposedly conspiring to kill her in New York, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

She said that the authorities in Iran have constantly tried to derail their messages calling her prostitute, CIA agent or even “an agent” of president Donald Trump.

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The dissident journalist testified that after discovering the murder attempt, she received so many threats and insults that she felt “broken a little.”

Masih Alinejad, 48, an outstanding American human rights activist, attends an interview with Associated Press in Berlin, Germany, on November 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Align’s testimony occurred a week after a former member of the Russian mafia He testified that he took photographs and videos outside his Brooklyn house after being hired to kill her. Before he could, the police stopped him for running a high signal. He was arrested after an AK-47 assault rifle loaded in his rear seat was found.

The defense lawyers of Amirov and Omarov have told the jury that the evidence of prosecutors was simply circumstantial and there are not enough evidence for a conviction.

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A judge told the jury on Monday that they can start deliberating by the end of this week.

Grace Taggart of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.