An Iranian couple in their 20s have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for posting a video of themselves dancing in the street.
He was allegedly convicted of corruption, prostitution and promoting propaganda.
The video shows them dancing on the Azadi (Freedom) Tower in Tehran.
After the death of a woman who was detained by the moral police, authorities are handing out heavy punishments to people who appear to be involved in protests.
The couple did not link their dance to the ongoing protests in Iran.
A source confirmed to JEE News that the couple’s arrest came after they posted the video on their Instagram accounts, which have a combined following of around two million.
Anti-government protests – dubbed “riots” by Iran’s government – spread across the country following the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September last year. She was arrested in Tehran for allegedly violating a rule requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab or headscarf.
Astiaz Haqqi, 21, and her fiance Amir Muhammad Ahmadi, 22, were convicted of “promoting corruption and prostitution, collusion against national security and propaganda against the establishment”.
Ms. Haqi’s house was raided before her arrest.
It is unclear how long each of the separate sentences they face is. They were each sentenced to a total of 10-and-a-half years – the combined sentence for the charges.
If their convictions are upheld, they will have to serve the longest of those sentences.
According to reports, he was also banned for two years from using social media and from leaving the country.
Iran’s protest movement, which began in September, has become the most serious challenge since the Iranian government came to power in a 1979 revolution.
To quell the protests, the state has been handing out harsh punishments to those involved in the unrest, including the execution of at least four protesters. Earlier this month and in December.
While Mehsa Amini’s death was the trigger for wider unrest in Iran, it also stemmed from long-standing discontent over poverty, unemployment, inequality, injustice and corruption.
Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands arrested during protests over the circumstances of his death.
