Authorities in Iran have arrested a prominent actress in connection with protests that have erupted across the country following the death of Mahsa Amini.
The state-run IRNA report says Taraneh Alidoosti, star of the Oscar-winning film “The Salesman,” was detained a week after she made an Instagram post expressing solidarity with the first man recently executed for crimes allegedly committed during the protests.
According to the report published on the official Telegram channel of state media, Alidoosti was detained because she did not provide “any document consistent with her claims.”
In her post, the 38-year-old actress said: ″His name was Mohsen Shekari. Every international organization that watches this bloodshed and takes no action is a shame on humanity.”
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Actress Taraneh Alidoosti during a photo call for the film “Forushande” (The Salesman) at the 69th Cannes international film festival in southern France.
(AP Photo/Joel Ryan, File)
shekari was executed earlier this month after being accused by an Iranian court of blocking a street in Tehran and attacking a member of the country’s security forces with a machete.
His fellow activists claimed that he was convicted after a “show trial” lacking due process.
IRAN EXECUTES THE SECOND DETAINEE FOR ANTI-THEOCRATIC PROTEST
Taraneh Alidoosti poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film ‘Leila’s Brothers’ at the 75th international film festival in Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
(AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)
In November, authorities arrested Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi, two other famous Iranian actresses, for expressing solidarity with protesters on social media. Voria Ghafouri, an Iranian soccer player, was also arrested last month for “insulting the national soccer team and making anti-government propaganda.” All three were released.
Since September, Alidoosti has openly expressed solidarity with the protesters in at least three posts on Instagram. Her account, which had some 8 million followers, has been suspended.
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In this Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, photo taken by a non-Associated Press employee and obtained by AP outside Iran, protesters light a fire and block the street during a protest over the death of a woman detained by morality police. , in the center of Tehran, Iran.
(AP Photo, File)
Alidoosti had previously criticized the Iranian government and its police force ahead of this year’s protests.
In June 2020, he received a five-month suspended prison sentence after he criticized police on Twitter in 2018 for assaulting a woman who had removed her veil.
Protesters in Iran have taken to the streets for months, often clashing with Iranian security forces, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested for failing to properly wear the headscarf required by Iran’s Islamic government.
Iran has aggressively prosecuted protesters amid what has become the biggest pushback against the Islamist regime in decades, with courts in and around the capital Tehran sentencing 400 people to prison terms of up to 10 years in the repression.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
