Iranian couple jailed over viral dance video

Iranian court a Young couple jailed for over 10 years Iranian human rights activists said on Tuesday (Jan 31) that a video was seen as a symbol of defiance for dancing in front of one of Tehran’s main landmarks.

Astiyaz Haqiqi and her fiance Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, both in their twenties, were arrested after a video of them dancing in front of the Azadi Tower in Tehran went viral.

Both defendants lost lawyers

Astiyaz Haqiqi does not wear the Islamic headscarf, defying the Islamic Republic’s strict rules on women, and is not allowed to dance with men in public in Iran. A revolutionary court in Tehran sentenced them to 10.5 years in prison, as well as banning them from using the Internet and leaving Iran, according to the US-based NGO Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

Popular on Instagram, the pair are guilty of “Promotion of corruption and public prostitution“, as well as”They have assembled with the intention of disrupting national securityNGO Citing sources close to their families, HRANA said they were denied a lawyer during the legal proceedings and attempts to seek bail were rejected.

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The NGO notes that Astiyaz Haqiqi is in the notorious Karchak women’s prison, whose detention conditions are regularly condemned by human rights activists. Iranian authorities have cracked down on all forms of dissent since the death of Mahza Amini in September, which sparked a wave of anti-regime protests.

According to the United Nations, at least 14,000 people have been arrested, including celebrities, journalists, lawyers and ordinary citizens. The couple’s video has been hailed as a symbol of freedom sought by the protest movement.

Azadi Gopuram, an important place of power

Known as one of the main attractions of the Iranian capital, the gigantic and futuristic Azadi Tower (“Independence”) is an important locus of power. It was opened in the early 1970s during the reign of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1941–1979), and was later renamed the Shahyat Tower (“In honor of Shah“). It was renamed when the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. In a separate case, 20-year-old Iranian woman Armita Abbasi went on trial Sunday after being arrested in October during protests in the city of Karaj near Tehran.

American channel CNN, citing leaks and an unnamed medical source, reported that she was taken to hospital in November after being raped while in custody. Iranian officials have denied the allegations. Her lawyer Shala Oroji said Armita Abbasi was charged with propagandizing against the organization and the court denied her bail.

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