The murder-for-hire trial against two men accused of being hired to kill Iranian dissident, Masih Alinejad, in New York City began with jury selection on Monday. 

“There was in fact no murder,” a federal district judge, Colleen McMahon, told the potential jurors at the Southern District of New York on Monday. “Nobody got killed.” 

There was, however, as the indictment alleges, a plan to assassinate Ms. Alinejad, an American citizen on American soil. The respected journalist, a contributor to Voice of America, human rights activist, and author of the best selling memoir, “The Wind In My Hair,” was born and raised in Iran. She fled her home country after the tumultuous presidential elections in 2009, and became a U.S. citizen ten years later, in 2019. She currently resides in Brooklyn. 

On Sunday, Ms. Alinejad, 48, wrote on X,“Finally, I will face the men hired by the Islamic Republic to kill me, right here in New York. Of course, it’s not easy. But it’s a big day. I’m deeply grateful to my new country, the United States of America, for trying to keep me safe from the government of my birth country.”

Ms. Alinejad was not in the courtroom on Monday. But she is expected to testify during the trial, when she’ll have to confront the men accused of having been contracted to take her life. 

“The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is actively targeting nationals of the United States and its allies living in countries around the world for kidnapping and/or extortion, in order to repress and silence dissidents critical of the Iranian regime,” the indictment alleges.

“Through her public works, the Victim,” as Ms. Alinejad is referred to in the indictment, “has publicized the Government of Iran’s human rights abuses; discriminatory treatment of women; suppression of democratic participation and expression; and use of arbitrary imprisonment, torture, and execution to target its political opponents,” the indictment further states.   

The Iranian government has denied any involvement in any plot on Ms. Alinejad’s life. The two men, Rafat Amirov, 45, and Polad Omarov, 40, accused of being hired to murder her, pleaded not guilty to the five-count indictment that charges them with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, money laundering conspiracy, and possession of firearm use, carrying, and possession during and in relation to attempted murder. Both men were arrested overseas in January 2023 and brought to New York to face trial. Other defendants, who are also listed in the indictment, have not been arrested yet and remain on the loose.  

Judge McMahon empathized the presumption of innocence to the prospective jurors. She described the defendants’ presumed innocence as a constitutional “default mode… if you are into computers.” 

Prosecutors allege that Mr. Amirov, a citizen of Azerbaijan and Russia, who resided in Iran, is a leading member of an Eastern European crime organization and was “tasked with targeting” Ms. Alinejad “by individuals in Iran.”  

Mr. Amirov, who wore a gray suit in court and appeared relaxed, at times even smiling in conversations with his attorneys, is then accused of having turned to Mr. Omarov, also alleged to be a leading member of the same crime organization. According to court documents, Mr. Omarov resided in Eastern Europe and is a citizen of Georgia.

Mr. Omarov experienced a slight wardrobe-malfunction on Monday. His pants appeared to be slightly big around the waste. His defense attorneys asked the judge if their client could wear a belt, so he would not have to hold up his pants while standing up to greet the prospective jurors. The judge denied the request, though she did allow him to receive a pair of socks.         

Mr. Amirov and Mr. Omarov allegedly hired a third man, Khalid Mehdiyev, “who was residing in Yonkers, New York, to carry out the plot against” the out-spoken critic and book author. 

Mr. Mehdiyev, 26, is not a defendant in the trial. He agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testify against Mr. Amirov and Mr. Omarov, according to The New York Times.  

The indictment alleges that the two defendants “arranged for the payment of $30,000 in cash” to Mr. Mehdiyev, who then “procured an AK-47-style assault rifle for carrying out the murder.” 

Prosecutors wrote that at the defendants’ instruction, Mr. Mehdiyev “surveilled the Victim and members of the Victim’s family; took photographs and videos of the Victim’s residence in Brooklyn and the surrounding neighborhood; and devised schemes to lure the Victim out of the Victim’s house.” 

In July 2022, “the plot was disrupted” when law enforcement arrested Mr. Mehdiyev near Ms. Alinejad’s home, finding an assault rifle, dozens of rounds of ammunition, a ski mask and cash in his car. 

The trial, during which prosecutors will also attempt to prove prior failed Iranian government plots against Ms. Alinejad is expected to last two to three weeks. Judge McMahon said on Monday that she planned to be done by March 31. 

After an entire day of questioning, the judge reduced the jury pool from over a hundred potential jurors to forty-one. The voir dire will continue on Tuesday morning, followed by opening statements.