Iranian authorities reportedly handed down a 10-year prison sentence to a couple who were recorded dancing in the street.
Astiyazh Haqiqi, 21, and her fiance, Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, 22, posted a video of them dancing together in public in front of Tehran’s Azadi Tower, also known as the “Freedom Tower.”
The court convicted them on charges of “fomenting corruption and public prostitution” as well as “collusion against national security and propaganda against the establishment,” the BBC reported.
Police also raided Haqiqi’s family home before his arrest.
BIDEN URGED TO TAKE A CLEAR STAND ON IRAN BY ACTIVIST TARGETED IN ALLEGED ASSASSINATION PLOT
It is not clear if the 10-year sentence applies to each of them or is it a combined sentence. They also received a two-year social media ban and must leave the country, The Guardian reported.
Women protest the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was detained by the moral police, in Tehran, on October 1, 2022.
(AP Photo/Middle East Images)
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency cited sources close to the family in reporting that the couple had no lawyers during the court proceedings and were unable to post bail.
The couple are just two of some 14,000 people arrested in recent months as the Iranian government continues to crack down on anyone deemed to have a connection to protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in custody. of Iran’s moral police.
IRANIAN JOURNALIST DEMANDS MEETING WITH BIDEN AFTER DOJ ARRESTS MEN IN MURDER PLOT AGAINST HER
Since then, the protests have spread to more than 140 cities and towns across the country in protests that mark one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the 1979 revolution. Security forces have used live ammunition, pellets, tear gas and batons to disperse protesters, according to human rights groups.
A couple in Iran are openly defying various state laws, including a requirement for women to wear headscarves and potentially a ban on unmarried couples kissing in public, in a unique act of defiance against the regime.
(The Alien Desk)
Celebrities, journalists and professional athletes are among those jailed due to the protests.
Another couple posted a video that went viral during protests for kissing in the streets – challenging the country’s hijab (headscarf) law, which had also led the morality police to arrest Amini, and laws against public affection towards unmarried couples in Iran.
IRAN UNDER DRONE ATTACK DAYS AFTER US AND ISRAEL LAUNCHED JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE IN THE REGION
The Iranian government has executed four people as protests continue across the country, with two executed in the first weeks of the New Year who were accused of killing a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard volunteer force.
“The revolution in Iran has already taken place,” Lisa Daftari, a Middle East expert and editor-in-chief of The Foreign Desk, told Fox News Digital. “When a couple feels comfortable enough to dance openly with the opposite sex, single, without their headscarf and posting that product of their joy and bravery online, it shows how far this movement has come.”
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks with General Ahmad Reza Radan in Iran on Saturday, January 7, 2023.
(Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
“The fact that the regime is attempting to stop any celebration of life or any symbolism of freedom is indicative of not only how repressive the mullahs have been for 44 years, but also how apprehensive they are that this current move will weaken their resolve.” Daftari added. . “They are making examples of anyone willing to show their bravery by kissing, dancing, singing or rapping. The regime is doing everything in its power to silence dissidents and take back the narrative.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Activists say at least 16 people have been sentenced to death in closed-door hearings on protest-related charges. Death sentences in Iran are usually carried out by hanging.
At least 517 protesters have been killed and more than 19,200 people have been arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has closely followed the unrest. The Iranian authorities have not provided an official count of those killed or detained.
Associated Press contributed to the report.
