Iranian Actor Charged With Inciting Violence
Iranian actor Mohammad Sadeghi,who was arrested for criticizing morality police has been charged with "inciting people to commit acts of violence."
Iranian actor Mohammad Sadeghi,who was arrested for criticizing morality police has been charged with "inciting people to commit acts of violence."
A source close to his family told the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) that he was also charged with "encouraging people to engage in corruption and prostitution."
In mid-July, police raided Sadeghi’s apartment as he was live blogging about the return of hijab patrols – or the so-called 'morality’ police -- to the streets on Instagram, after a video had gone viral of a woman violently detained.
“Believe me, if I saw such a scene, I might commit murder,” he wrote in the caption of his video. "Why do you get paid? To take people's daughters into a van and arrest them?"
The agents broke into his house to arrest him, but he jumped from the third floor in a bid to escape. A dramatic chase ensued, which he filmed and streamed live on Instagram, in spite of the regime's attempts to ban the app.
In a new campaign to enforce mandatory hijab, morality police have now returned to the streets in full force after a brief few months' respite following the worst of the unrest which erupted in September after the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody.
Women continue to defy the official dress code, particularly in Tehran, despite the crackdown, with huge numbers seen across the country's public spaces from malls to universities with their hair uncovered as they flout the mandatory hijab rules.
Experts fear the renewed zeal of the morality police risks reigniting tensions.
