A court in Iran has given a prominent actress a suspended two-year prison sentence for failing to wear the compulsory hijab headscarf in public, local media reported on Wednesday.
“Afsaneh Bayegan was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended over five years, for wearing a hat and failing to comply with the hijab law,” Fars news agency reported.
The law requires women to cover their head and neck in public.
Actress Afsaneh Bayegan appeared without the mandatory hijab in a ceremony in Tehran to honor the career of actor Atila Pesyani Sunday. Bayegan stars in “Deev va Mahpishooni” (Beauty and the Beast), a tv series streamed inside Iran. #افسانه_بایگان pic.twitter.com/nHcWVL9sJd
— IranHumanRights.org (@ICHRI) May 2, 2023
The court also ordered Bayegan to make weekly visits to a psychological centre “to treat the mental disorder of having an anti-family personality” and to submit a health certificate after her treatment, it said.
The verdict also bans her from using social media and leaving the Islamic republic for two years, Fars added.
The ruling came after the 61-year-old actress appeared at a movie ceremony without wearing a headscarf and then shared photos on social media.
Wearing a hijab has been compulsory for all Iranian women since shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
