A young Iranian couple has reportedly been given a combined 21-year jail sentence for posting a video of themselves dancing at a popular landmark in the country, according to a human rights activist group.
According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRNA), the young couple, 21-year-old Astiyazh Haghighi, and, her fiancé Amir Ahmadi, 22, were both “violently” arrested by Iranian security forces at their home in Tehran soon after they published a video on social media.
According to the HRNA, the video which was published on November 1, 2022, showed them dancing in a city square with the Azadi (Freedom) Monument in the background, which caught the attention of the authorities.
Human rights states shared that a Tehran court handed the couple a heavy 10 years and six months sentence each after convicting them on charges including “encouraging corruption and public prostitution,” and “gathering with the intention of disrupting national security.”
The couple was also barred from using the internet and from leaving Iran for two years, a period which presumably would begin after their incarceration.
BBC reports also confirmed the November 1 arrests, which came after the couple posted the video to their respective Instagram accounts, which have combined 2 million followers.
The Mizan news website, a media outlet for Iran’s judiciary, rubbished dancing as the reason for their detention but instead for online activities that included “encouraging people to riot against the country and subversion.”
“Astiazh Haghighi and Amir Mohammad Ahmadi had published a call for a rally on November 4 and called for riots on their Instagram pages,” the statement alleges. “During the riots, they used their page to advertise calls, including the call for November 4.”
The Iranian security forces have cracked down severely on anyone who has joined or is deemed to be a supporter of Anti-Government protests which erupted in September following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who was in the custody of the country’s “Morality Police.”
Amini was detained over an alleged breach of the Islamic state’s strict clothing rules for women.
Iranian DJs speaking to the BBC had been reported as stating that dancing, especially to modern or Western-style music, had become an act of protest against the regime in and of itself.
