CNN
—
one iranian The couple, both social media influencers, have received lengthy jail sentences after videos emerged of them dancing in a main square in the capital Tehran.
In a video widely shared on social media, Astiyazh Haghighi, 21, can be seen dancing without a headscarf with her fiancé Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, 22, in Azadi Square.
each was charged He was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison, according to activist group Human Rights Activists News. Agency (HRANA)
However, Misan, the news agency affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, said each was sentenced to five years in prison for “assembly and conspiracy with the intent to undermine national security”.
The two allegedly encouraged people to rally and invite them to riot in an Instagram post created Oct. 26, Mizan Online said.
Judge Abolqasem Salavati presided over their case and sentenced. and banned from posting videos on social media for two years. and prohibited from leaving the country for two years According to HRANA
Security forces raided the couple’s home for the first time in the early hours of October 30, sources told CNN. and brought them in for interrogation. They were then sent to prison.
Haghighi was initially sent to Ward 209 of Evin Prison, but was then transferred to Qarchak Women’s Prison, where she is being held, reports HRANA.
Haghighi and Ahmadi each have close to one million followers on Instagram and have separate YouTube channels with over half a million followers.
The incident comes after the country faced nationwide protests over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a woman accused of violating the country’s mandatory hijab law. Iran cracks down with executions for protesters accused of killing security forces which critics say is the result of a hasty trial.
Their lengthy sentences have been compared by critics to those of Sajjad Heydari, the Iranian man who notoriously beheaded his wife last year. Heydari, who killed his 17-year-old wife in February 2022. sentenced Sentenced to eight years and two months in prison, according to Khabar Online’s semi-official website.
