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This was reported by the BBC on January 31st, citing the Human Rights Activists Newsletter (HRANA), an Iranian human rights group based in the United States.
Astiaz Hakiki, who is in his 20s, and his fiancé, Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, reportedly took a video of themselves dancing together in the evening with Tehran's Azadi Tower in the background and posted it on social media. However, Iranian authorities arrested the two on charges of corruption, promoting prostitution, and propaganda that violated national security, and after a trial, they were sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison.
The popular influencers, who have two million followers on Instagram, were arrested at their home in November last year shortly after posting the dance video. An Iranian court also banned them from leaving the country for two years and banned them from the internet.
The BBC does not mention anti-government protests in Iran in their footage, but it is presumed that the protests were linked to the two people's sentences. Iranian demonstrators have been indirectly conveying a message of resistance through dance and song as the authorities' sanctions have recently been tightened. "Azadi" of the Azadi Tower, which they used as a backdrop, means "freedom" in Persian.
Iran is a democratic country that adopted a presidential system, but after the Islamic fundamentalist revolution, it has effectively maintained a new government system, and secularization is prohibited. This makes it impossible for women to dance and sing in public places with men.
2023/02/08 09:43 KST
