The safety forces in Iran have arrested two distinguished actresses, Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi, for eradicating their head scarves and taking part within the antigovernment protests which have swept the nation for the previous two months, in keeping with state-run information media.
The federal government charged the actresses with “collusion with the intention of appearing towards the state safety” and “propaganda towards the state,” IRNA, Iran’s state-run information company, stated on Sunday.
The arrests got here after each ladies had been seen in public with out carrying a head scarf, or hijab — defying the stringent costume code that the Iranian authorities enforces for girls.
Anger over these guidelines and their enforcement has fueled the latest protests in Iran, which had been kindled by the loss of life of Mahsa Amini, a younger Iranian Kurdish lady, within the custody of the morality police in September after she was accused of violating the legislation on head scarves.
Ms. Ghaziani and Ms. Riahi are amongst a gaggle of high-profile Iranians, together with artists, musicians, athletes and activists, who’ve publicly supported the motion since mid-September.
In an announcement posted to her private Instagram account on Saturday, Ms. Ghaziani, 52, denounced the federal government for his or her crackdown on the younger individuals who have joined the demonstrations.
“What number of kids, youngsters and younger folks have you ever killed — is it not sufficient with the bloodshed?” she stated in her submit. “I hate you, and your historic status.”
“This can be my final submit,” she added.
Ms. Ghaziani was arrested the following day, hours after importing one other video, from the streets of Tehran, wherein she is seen staring defiantly into the digicam with no head overlaying earlier than turning her again and tying a ponytail in her hair.
“From this second on, no matter occurs to me, know that I will probably be with the folks of Iran till my final breath,” she wrote within the submit, which garnered an outpouring of assist and concern over her destiny because it coursed by way of social media.
Ms. Ghaziani was taken to the prosecutor’s workplace hours later by safety personnel, who stated that the fees towards her included “communication with opposition and counterrevolutionary media,” in keeping with IRNA.
Ms. Riahi, 60, who was additionally arrested on Sunday, eliminated her hijab publicly in mid-September for an interview with the TV channel Iran Worldwide wherein she stated she had all the time opposed the legislation and was prepared “to indicate the reality.”
Safety forces arrested her at her villa in Qazvin, northwest of Tehran, in keeping with the semiofficial information company Tasmin.
The arrests had been the most recent in a wider try by the federal government to quash the rebellion, which has continued for 2 months in dozens of cities throughout Iran and has been fueled largely by the 1000’s of girls on the streets week after week. Some 15,000 Iranians have been arrested and several other hundred have been killed, in keeping with rights teams.
In an effort to undercut the sustained momentum of the largely leaderless motion, the federal government has focused the musicians, artists and journalists who’ve supported the demonstrations.
Plenty of distinguished Iranians, together with “5 film personalities” had been summoned to the prosecutor’s workplace on Saturday for publishing “unverified feedback concerning the latest occasions, in addition to the publication of provocative materials in assist of avenue riots,” in keeping with the information company Mizan, which is owned by the Iranian judiciary.
Amongst these summoned was Mahmoud Sadeghi, a former member of Parliament from a reform faction in Iran, who posted on Twitter criticizing the killing of a 10-year-old boy this previous week.
The federal government additionally summoned Yahya Golmohammadi, a former defender on Iran’s nationwide soccer workforce. The information comes because the workforce is in Qatar for the World Cup.
Talking at a information convention on Sunday earlier than Iran’s first match, towards England, Ehsan Hajsafi, the workforce’s captain, stated, “We now have to simply accept that the situations in our nation will not be proper and our individuals are not blissful.”
“We’re right here, nevertheless it doesn’t imply that we shouldn’t be their voice, or we should not respect them,” he added.
Toomaj Salehi, a rapper who was arrested after releasing music in assist of the demonstrations, has been charged with “propagandistic exercise towards the federal government, cooperation with hostile governments and forming unlawful teams with the intention of making insecurity within the nation,” in keeping with IRNA — expenses that may very well be punishable by loss of life. The 32-year-old musician has been detained since late October in Tehran’s Evin jail complicated, which is infamous for widespread human rights violations.
The Committee to Defend Journalists stated this month that the Iranian authorities had arrested no less than 51 journalists because the begin of the protests, together with Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, two feminine reporters who had been instrumental in breaking the story of Ms. Amini’s loss of life.
The federal government has accused the pair, with out proof, of being international brokers who obtained coaching by america to create chaos. The publications they work for have denied the fees.
Supply: NY Times
