Iranian Actress Detained For Supporting Protests & Denouncing Executions

Famous Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti was arrested on Saturday for endorsing the three-month-old protest movement that was started when Mahsa Amini tragically died while being held. According to official media, the 38-year-old was detained “by order of the judicial authority” because she “did not offer verification for some of her statements” regarding the ongoing protests.

Protests in Iran have been sparked by the murder of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman of Kurdish descent, after her imprisonment for allegedly breaking the dress code of the nation.

A number of people, including Alidoosti, have reportedly been detained, according to the state judiciary’s Mizan Online news website, “after certain unfounded comments made over the recent events and the publication of provocative material in support of the street disturbances.”

The Oscar-winning actress Alidoosti, who is well known for her part in the 2016 film “The Salesman,” had denounced the execution of Mohsen Shekari for his participation in the demonstrations. In an Instagram post that is now removed, she made a statement.

“Your silence means the support of the oppression and the oppressor”, Alidoosti wrote in an Instagram post. “Every international organisation who is watching this bloodshed and not taking action is a disgrace to humanity,” Alidoosti wrote in another post.

On the day of Amini’s death, Alidoosti shared a post on social media, which read, “Damnation to this captivity.” She added, “Don’t forget what Iran’s women go through” and asked people to “say her name, spread the word”.

Alidoosti published a picture in favor of the demonstration on November 9. She posed carrying a sign that read, “Woman, life, freedom,” while not wearing a hijab.

Since the protests began in September, thousands of people have been jailed, and 400 have been given prison sentences of up to 10 years for their involvement in the turmoil. Several people have also received death sentences.