In the video: a couple of bloggers who danced in Tehran were sent to ten years in prison (documentation on social networks according to Section 27 A of the Copyright Law)
An Iranian court sentenced a young couple who danced in front of one of the main sites in Tehran to more than ten years in prison.
Astiaj Hajiji and her fiance, Amir Muhammad Ahmadi, both in their early 20s, were arrested in early November after the video of them dancing sensually in front of the Azadi Tower was circulated on social media.
The video was seen as a symbol of defiance against the regime, while suppressing the protests that broke out following the death of the young Kurdish girl Mehsa Amini who was arrested by the Moral Police in September.
Hajiji did not wear a head covering, contrary to the law in the Islamic Republic, which forbids women to dance in public, let alone with a man.
According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, which operates from the United States, a revolutionary court in the capital sentenced each of them to ten years and six months in prison, and prohibited them from using the Internet and leaving the country.
The couple had many followers on Instagram, and was convicted of "encouraging corruption and public prostitution" and "
Sources close to the couple's family, cited by the agency, said authorities denied the two access to lawyers during the legal proceedings and rejected requests to release them on bail.
It was also reported that Hajiji is being held in Kercek, a women's prison on the outskirts of Tehran whose conditions have been condemned by human rights activists.
They were not given access to lawyers during the trial.
The couple during the dance in Tehran (photo: documentation on social networks according to Section 27 A of the Copyright Law)
The regime succeeded, using harsh violence and draconian punishment measures, to largely suppress the demonstrations that erupted with the death of Amini, who was arrested because she did not wear the required head covering.
Hundreds of protesters and members of the security forces were killed, and at least four protesters were executed, with dozens more facing the death penalty.
In addition, the UN estimates that at least 14,000 people have been arrested in recent months, including celebrities, journalists and athletes who sympathized with the protesters and their demands for change, alongside lawyers and ordinary citizens who went out to protest against the ongoing oppression.
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The regime has arrested thousands of protesters in recent months (photo: documentation on social networks according to Section 27 A of the Copyright Law)
The couple's video has been described as one of the symbols of the protest movement's demands for freedoms, especially the moment where Ahmadi waves his partner with her flowing hair and no headscarf.
"These two young Iranians, whose only crime was dancing, were sentenced to ten years and six months in prison," tweeted the Iranian activist and journalist Mesih Alinejad, who lives in the United States.
"They danced in the streets in support of the #women, life, freedom revolution in Iran. They do not deserve such cruelty," added the journalist, who also mentioned Mehsa Amini in the tweet.
Azadi Tower (freedom in Persian) is one of the prominent symbols of the capital of Iran.
The building was inaugurated under the reign of the last Shah, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, in the early 1970s and became known as the Shahiyad Tower (in memory of the Shah).
The Islamic regime changed its name after the revolution in 1979, and the architect of the futuristic structure is a member of the Baha'i religion persecuted by the government.
He currently lives in exile.
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