Taraneh Alidoosti
Iran: Oscar-winning movie actor Taraneh Alidoosti arrested over anti-hijab protests
Tehran/IBNS: Taraneh Alidoosti, who acted in the 2016 Oscar-winning film "The Salesman", was arrested for supporting the anti-hijab protest in Iran, AFP reported citing Tasnim news agency.
The 38-year-old actor was detained for "publishing false and distorted content and inciting chaos," the Tasnim news agency reported.
Iran is witnessing one of the biggest shows of dissent in recent history following the death of 22-year-old Mahasa Amini.
The young woman, who was visiting some relatives in Tehran before starting college, was detained by Iran’s "morality police" on September 13 for allegedly violating the country’s strict and mandatory hijab laws.
After taking her into custody to “teach her how to wear the hijab and how to dress,” the morality police kept beating her in the van and also hit her on the head while ferrying her to a police station, according to media reports.
Amini’s relatives allege she died of severe head injuries and not of heart attack as claimed by the Iranian government.
On the day of Amini's death, Alidoosti posted a photo with text saying—"Damnation to this captivity"—on her Instagram handle, the AFP report said.
"Don't forget what Iran's women go through": she captioned the photo and urged people to "say her name, spread the word", it added.
Alidoosti continued to raise her voice against anti-hijab laws of Iran.
On November 9, she shared her own image without a headscarf, holding a paper with the main slogan of the protests—"Woman, life, freedom".
Alidoosti is a prominent cine personality of Iran. Her recent movie "Leila's Brothers" was screened at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
Her most recent social media post was also on December 8.
The same day, Mohsen Shekari, 23, became the first person executed by authorities over the protests.
Within a few days, on December 12, Iran publicly hanged 23-year-old protester Majidreza Rahnavard.
Nine other people arrested for involvement in the mass unrest have been sentenced to death.
Thousands of people have been kept in detention since the protests started and 400 have received jail sentences of up to 10 years for participating in the anti-hijab stir, Iran's judiciary said Tuesday, AFP reported.
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