Following the release of a video showing an Iranian couple dancing in the capital city of Tehran’s major square, both of whom were social media influencers, the couple received hefty prison terms.
Astiyazh Haghighi, 21, and Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, 22, can be seen dancing in Azadi Square without wearing a headscarf in a video that has gone viral on social media. The couple themselves published the video.
For the crime of dancing, these two young Iranians have been sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison.#AstiyazhHaghighi 21 & #AmirMohammadAhmadi,
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 30, 2023
22 danced in the streets in support of #WomanLifeFreedom revolution in Iran.
They don’t deserve such brutality.#MahsaAmini pic.twitter.com/Bs9VxqnxFV
Each was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison after being accused of “promoting corruption and vice” and “assembly and collaboration with the goal of damaging national security,” according to the watchdog group Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
The Iranian judiciary’s news agency, Mizan, reported that each person received a 5-year prison sentence for “assembly and collaboration with the goal of damaging national security.”
According to Mizan Online, the two are charged with urging people to gather and inviting them to riot in an Instagram post from October 26.
According to HRANA, Judge Abolqasem Salavati presided over their case and handed down the punishments, along with a two-year ban on publishing films to social media and a two-year ban on leaving the country.
