Assassination Plot Against Journalist Masih Alinejad Uncovered

New York, Oct 29 (AP) A plan to assassinate Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad at her Brooklyn home came alarmingly close to being executed, according to prosecutors who addressed the court ahead of sentencing two alleged Russian mobsters.

Prosecutors are pushing for 55-year prison terms for Rafat Amirov, 46, and Polad Omarov, 41, during their sentencing hearing on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court. They allege Amirov, from Iran, and Omarov, from Georgia, are high-ranking figures in the Russian mob.

Amirov's legal team contends that a sentence of no more than 13 years is appropriate for him, while Omarov's attorneys are advocating for a 10-year prison term.

Both individuals were found guilty following a two-week trial in March that included gripping testimonies from a hired assassin and Alinejad herself, a respected author, activist, and contributor to Voice of America.

Alinejad, 49, announced she would be present in court to confront those accused of being significant members of the Gulici, a Russian mob faction notorious for orchestrating violent crimes, extortion, and other criminal activities both in the U.S. and internationally.

“They'll receive their sentence, and I'll speak my truth in my impact statement,” she conveyed to her supporters on Tuesday.

Alinejad is known for spearheading online movements encouraging Iranian women to share videos of themselves unveiling in defiance of mandatory headscarf regulations.

Prosecutors claim that starting in 2020, Iranian intelligence officials plotted to abduct Alinejad in the USA and forcibly relocate her to Iran to mute her critiques.

In July 2022, after various attempts to malign and intimidate her proved futile, Iran allegedly offered a USD 500,000 bounty to have Alinejad killed, as per the prosecutors.

Court documents suggest that the Iranian government targeted Alinejad due to her life’s work exposing the Islamic Republic’s misconduct. The mobsters were seemingly uninspired to consider the reasons behind the bounty they were offered but were drawn solely to potential gains of power and wealth, insisted the prosecution.

The prosecutors described the plot as dangerously close to fruition, only foiled by the fortune of Alinejad being absent when a hired assassin sought her, compounded by the vigilance and persistence of U.S. law enforcement who averted disaster just in time.

Amirov’s attorneys claimed there was no actual harm incurred and minimized their client’s involvement as marginal, if existent at all.

Omarov’s lawyers argued for mercy, given he risked his life following the 2020 murder of a relative tied to the “thieves-in-law” criminal syndicate in Russia and Azerbaijan. Omarov was extradited to the U.S. in February 2024, following a year of detention in the Czech Republic.

Alinejad brought to light during the trial that she moved to the U.S. in 2009, following her expulsion from journalism in Iran as a consequence of her work documenting the controversial presidential election, which also led to her newspaper’s closure.

Based in New York City, she amassed a vast online following and initiated the “My Stealthy Freedom” movement, encouraging Iranian women to unveil when not under the morality police’s watch.

The prosecution continues to pursue leads in this investigation; as of October 2024, charges were brought against a senior Iranian military officer and three others, none of whom have been detained.

Since uncovering the assassination plot, Alinejad reportedly has relocated nearly two dozen times.

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