Featured Image Credit: zhatiis/Instagram
Topics: World News, Iran, YouTube
Rhiannon Ingle
A couple have been sentenced to a decade behind bars each after being filmed dancing together.
The two young Iranians have been identified as Astiyazh Haghighi, 21, and Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, 22, with a court charging them for 'encouraging corruption'.
They were sentenced last week (January 29) after first being arrested in November last year.
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Both have received ten and a half years each after filming and uploading videos of themselves dancing in a square in Iran's capital, Tehran.
Azadi Square - formerly known as Shahyad Square - remains one of the major sites of anti-government protests.
Dubbed the epicentre of protest in the country, the square was also occupied by pro-government Iranians as a tribute to the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
It has been reported that Branch 15 of Tehran Revolutionary Court charged the 20-somethings with 'encouraging corruption, assembly and collusion with the intention of disrupting national security and spreading propaganda' against the Islamic Republic.
Haghighi and Ahmadi were reportedly not allowed access to a lawyer. The young couple's request for bail was also refused.
The pair are both social media content creators who hold an impressive near one million followers each on their respective Instagram pages.
Both full-time in their social media work, the couple have also been banned from any further 'online activities'.
Additionally, the content creators will also be banned from leaving the country for two years once their decade-long sentence has been served.
The video, uploaded by VICE World News' TikTok account, has already amassed over 841,000 views and thousands of comments from people eager to weigh in on the matter.
Many were in total shock to hear the news, while others found the story really tugged on their heartstrings, with one TikTok user writing calling the situation 'absolutely heartbreaking'.
Totally baffled by the news, a second wrote: "This is insane!!!"
"Terrible - I have no words," a third speechless person added.
Thousands of others have voiced their opinions on the sentencing on Twitter.
One user said: "Their country. Their laws. Their customs. Their culture. Just as we in the USA expect respect for our sovereignty, customs, and culture, so should we respect other countries and their sovereignty, customs, and culture."
With a differing viewpoint, a second commented: "Heartbreaking for these two young people and their families."
Another called the court's decision a 'sad result', adding: "I feel so very sorry for those two young people. They’re not doing anything wrong by most modern societal standards."