Reign of terror: Roya Hashmeti, a prominent activist against Iran's religious coercion laws, was sentenced to 74 lashes and two years in prison for protesting the country's hijab law.
Hashmati, a young activist best known for social media, described her punishment to opposition-affiliated media. She said that on the day of the barbaric punishment, she came to court accompanied by her lawyer and refused to wear a hijab. "I've come to get my lashes, I won't cover my head."
Roya Shemeti and the results of her spanking,
The young woman said that a police officer at the scene threatened to open a new case against her, but she refused to cover herself. "They opened an iron door, the room had exposed cement walls. The room had a bed and had chains attached to the walls. It was a medieval torture chamber."
Iran has avoided flogging punishments for women who violate the country's hijab laws in recent years, and the punishment was officially halted at least during the country's 2022 protests against hijab laws and religious coercion. The protest, which spread from the Kurdish region of the country to Tehran and other major cities, was attended by thousands of young Iranians, and government offices and police stations were attacked and set on fire.
Over the past year, Iranian authorities have resumed enforcing the country's hijab laws more vigorously and have resumed the operation of the "morality police," a body charged with enforcing religious laws in the country's public sphere.
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