Tue 31 January 2023:
A video of a young Iranian couple dancing in public was shared online, leading to their 10-year prison sentence.
The blogger couple – Astiyazh Haghighi (21) and Amir Mohammad Ahmadi (22) – shared a video of themselves dancing in Azadi Square in Iran’s capital Tehran.
Haghigi and Ahmadi were reportedly arrested in November last year. They danced to support the ongoing protests in Iran which started in September last year after 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini allegedly died in custody of the Iranian morality police.
The couple, who were arrested in their home on November 1 after publishing the video, have each been sentenced to 10 years and six months of imprisonment, a two-year ban on using the internet, and a two-years ban on leaving the country, according to HRANA.
Haghighi and her fiancée have also been charged with “colluding with the intention of disrupting national security and promoting propaganda.”
For the crime of dancing, these two young Iranians have been sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison.#AstiyazhHaghighi 21 & #AmirMohammadAhmadi,
22 danced in the streets in support of #WomanLifeFreedom revolution in Iran.
They don’t deserve such brutality.#MahsaAmini pic.twitter.com/Bs9VxqnxFV— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 30, 2023
The verdict was issued by Branch 15 Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, headed by Abolqasem Salavati, a judge infamous for imposing severe punishments on individuals perceived as a threat to the Islamic Republic.
The couple were denied legal representation during the proceedings, HRANA said, citing a source close to Haghighi’s family.
Iranian authorities have not commented on the case.
The reported ruling came amid a crackdown by authorities against months of anti-regime protests that started after the death in police custody of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on September 16.
Amini, 22, died shortly after her arrest by Tehran’s morality police for allegedly not complying with the regime’s strict hijab rules.
The protests, which quickly escalated into calls for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, have been met with a violent crackdown from authorities, resulting in the deaths of hundreds and the arrest of thousands, according to human rights groups.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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