(CNN) – Young couple Astyaz Hagigi and her fiancée Amir Ahmadi have been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for dancing in the streets after a video was widely shared on social media.
In the video, the couple in their early 20s were seen dancing and spinning around Tehran’s Azadi Square, one of Iran’s most famous squares. Astyajji’s hair is exposed.
The Iranian government has been cracking down for months after the video was widely shared on social media. According to rights groups, it raided the couple’s home, arrested the two, and finally brought them before a very infamous judge.
CNN/Iran social media
The judge – Judge Avolkasem Salavati – is a person sanctioned by the United States. Salavati has been dubbed the “Judge of Death” by the United States, handing out lengthy sentences and even condemning political activists to death.
Rights groups say the couple were denied access to a lawyer, given little due process or a fair trial, and the judge sentenced each of them to 10.5 years for just dancing. said to have given a harsh verdict of…on the streets. The allegation was that he had “spread corruption with vice”.
Tehran’s government said the couple had been demonstrating against the government and spreading the idea of protesting.
Yet another example of those who have fallen victim to the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on the growing protest movement.
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