An Iranian woman has been jailed for ten years for ‘encouraging prostitution’ after removing her headscarf at a protest.
Mahsa Peyravi, 25, of Tehran, was accused by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on December 25.
The court found her guilty of ‘encouraging corruption and prostitution’ as well as ‘assembly and collusion’.
Ms Peyravi was seized by security forces on October 17 after she removed her headscarf and waved it above her head at Mirdamad Boulevard in Iran’s capital.
The head of Branch 15 is feared judge Abolqasem Salavati, who has been dubbed ‘Iran’s Hanging Judge’ by human rights and political activists.
He once presided over the execution of a man, Mohsen Amiraslani, who had described Jonah and the Whale as a fictitious morality tale.
Ms Peyravi was released on bail three days later after she posted a bail bond of IRR 2.5 billion (£50,000). The verdict is preliminary and may be appealed.
Protests broke out in Iran on September 16 following the fatal beating of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini by morality police for wearing her hijab ‘improperly’.
At least 469 protesters have been killed, while 39 are at risk of execution or death sentences, according to independent estimates.
As many as 18,210 protesters are believed to have been arrested.
Western nations have piled pressure on the Islamic republic to end the violence.
Many people across the Middle East and the West have attended protests to burn their headscarfs following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
The protesters say they are fed up after decades of social and political repression, and deny having any foreign agenda.
While attending the protests Tehran crowds have shouted ‘death to the dictator’, calling for the end of the more than three-decade rule of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 83.
Source » dailymail