U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has announced charges against three men in a plot to kill author and activist Masih Alinejad.
According to court documents, Rafat Amirov, Polad Omarov and Khalid Mehdiyev were charged with murder-for-hire and money laundering for their role in carrying out the alleged murder plot.
“As alleged, the defendants are members of an organized crime group hired to assassinate, right here in New York City, a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin who has been critical of the [Iranian] regime’s autocracy and its disregard for human rights,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York.
“The Department remains steadfast in our determination to defend our fundamental American values of freedom of expression in the face of all forms of transnational repression”, remarked Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for National Security Division.
For her part, Alinejad believes Iran hired “2 members of an East European organized crime syndicate” to assassinate her on U.S. soil.