A couple in Iran has been sentenced to jail for dancing in public. Astiyazh Haghighi and her fiance, Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, were arrested in November 2022 after a video showed them dancing on the streets of Tehran. The couple, both influencers in their early 20s, had shared the video on social media themselves.
The two were handed a jail term of 10 and a half years each for “spreading corruption and vice,” according to activist group Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). They were also convicted of “encouraging corruption and public prostitution” and “gathering with the intention of disrupting national security,” HRANA said.
Haghighi was not wearing a headscarf in the video, which stood in violation of Iran’s strict dress code for women. Women in Iran are also banned from dancing in public, The Guardian reported.
For the crime of dancing, these two young Iranians have been sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison.#AstiyazhHaghighi 21 & #AmirMohammadAhmadi,
22 danced in the streets in support of #WomanLifeFreedom revolution in Iran.
They don’t deserve such brutality.#MahsaAmini pic.twitter.com/Bs9VxqnxFV— Masih Alinejad (@AlinejadMasih) January 30, 2023
Iran news agency Mizan, however, reported that both Haghighi and Ahmadi had been handed a 5-year prison sentence each for “assembly and collusion with the intention of disrupting national security.”
Their case was presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati, who also banned the couple from leaving the country or posting videos on social media for two years.
Haghighi, who has close to a million followers on Instagram, has been detained at Qarchak women’s prison.
