Iranian authorities have arrested a prominent actress in connection with protests that erupted across the country following the death of Mahsa Amini.
The state-owned IRNA report said Taraneh Alidoosti, star of the Oscar-winning film ‘The Salesman’ was arrested a week after publishing an Instagram post expressing solidarity with the first man recently executed for crimes allegedly committed during the protests.
According to the report published on the state media’s official Telegram channel, Alidoosti was arrested because she failed to provide “any documents in line with her claims.”
In her post, the 38-year-old actress said: ″His name was Mohsen Shekari. Any international organization that is watching this bloodshed and failing to act is a disgrace to humanity.”
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Actress Taraneh Alidoosti during a photo shoot for the film ‘Forushande’ (The Salesman) at the 69th international film festival, Cannes, southern France.
(AP Photo/Joel Ryan, Archive)
Shekari was performed earlier this month after being accused by an Iranian court of blocking a road in Tehran and assaulting a member of the country’s security forces with a machete.
Other activists said he was convicted following a “show trial” lacking due process.
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Taraneh Alidoosti poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film ‘Leila’s Brothers’ at the 75th international film festival, Cannes, Southern France, Wednesday 25th May 2022
(AP Photo/Daniel Cole, Files)
In November, Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi, two other famous Iranian actresses, were arrested by the authorities for expressing solidarity with protesters on social media. Voria Ghafouri, an Iranian footballer, was also arrested last month for “insulting the national football team and propaganda against the government”. All three have been released.
Since September, Alidoosti has openly expressed solidarity with protesters in at least three Instagram posts. Her account, which had around 8 million followers, was suspended.
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Photo taken by individual not employed by Associated Press and obtained by AP outside Iran, protesters light fire and block road during protest over death of woman arrested by morals police on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022 downtown Tehran, Iran.
(AP photos, files)
Alidoosti had previously criticized the Iranian government and its police force ahead of this year’s protests.
In June 2020, she was given a five-month suspended prison sentence after criticizing police on Twitter in 2018 for assaulting a woman who had removed her headscarf.
Protesters in Iran have brought to the square for months, often clashing with Iranian security forces, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested for not wearing the headscarf required by Iran’s Islamic government correctly.
Iran aggressively prosecuted protesters during what became the largest pushback against the Islamist regime in decades, with courts in and around the capital Tehran sentenced 400 people to prison terms of up to 10 years in the crackdown.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
