According to official media, Iranian authorities arrested one of the country’s most renowned actresses on Saturday after she expressed support for the nation’s current protest movement.
Taraneh Alidoosti, who played in the Oscar-winning film “The Salesman” in 2016, was jailed a week after she posted a message on Instagram expressing solidarity with Mohsen Shekari, the first man hanged in response to the protests, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
The 38-year-old actress tweeted to her 8 million followers on her now-suspended account, ′′His name was Mohsen Shekari. “Every international agency that observes this violence without intervening is a disgrace to humanity.”
Alidoosti was arrested because she lacked “papers substantiating her assertions,” according to state media, which also noted that she was among a number of celebrities who had “been called by the judiciary for sharing controversial information,” some of whom had been arrested.
Shekari was accused by an Iranian court of blocking a Tehran street and attacked a member of the country’s security forces with a machete. On December 9, he was executed by public hanging. Days afterwards, Iran hanged Majidreza Rahnavard’s body from a construction crane in relation to the protests.
Following the death on September 16 of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been imprisoned in Tehran by the country’s morality police unit, protests have erupted across the nation.
Human Rights Activists in Iran report that at least 495 people have been killed and more than 18,200 have been arrested as a result of a savage security response during the demonstrations.
Activists report that at least a dozen others have been sentenced to death.
»Iran detains an Oscar-winning actress for her involvement in ongoing protests«