Iranian film star Taraneh Alidoosti given suspended prison sentence for ‘anti-government activism’
Taraneh Alidoosti, one of Iran’s most popular film stars, will reportedly receive a five-month prison sentence on charges of “anti-government activism”, The Independent reports.
According to a BBC Persia report, Alidoosti’s lawyer Kaveh Rad tweeted that her sentence has been suspended for two years and would be officially announced on 1 July. He called the sentence an act of intimidation by Iranian authorities.
The charges are apparently related to negative tweets about law enforcement, Variety says.
The star of Asghar Farhadi’s The Salesman issued a strong criticism of Iranian authorities in January this year, when she told her 5.8 million followers: “We are not citizens, we are captives, millions of captives.” The post was later deleted.
She also reportedly shared a video on Twitter showing a member of Iran’s plainclothes “morality police” insulting and attacking a woman on the street for not wearing the hijab headscarf.
On 21 January, Alidoosti, who has been described as “Iran’s Natalie Portman”, was initially summoned to Iran’s Culture and Media Prosecutor’s Office on charges of “propaganda activities against the state” before being released on bail. The case was then referred to the criminal court.
Alidoosti will not serve jail time unless she is convicted of another crime in the two-year period.