Iranian politician who criticized dress code sentenced to 8 years

Tehran, Oct 12 (EFE).- Prominent reformist politician and former presidential adviser Mostafa Tajzadeh has been sentenced to eight years in prison for collusion against the state, and anti-state propaganda, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Tajzadeh was arrested in July after criticizing Iran’s dress codes, which require women to always use the Islamic veil in public.

Tajzadeh has been sentenced to eight years in prison for collusion and assembly against security (5 years), spreading lies (2 years), and propaganda against the regime (1 year), his lawyer Houshang Pourbabaee tweeted.

Tajzadeh has been highly critical of the Islamic Republic’s policies, such as issues related to the nuclear agreement, and in the weeks before his arrest, he had criticized the strict dress code for women in the country.

The politician earlier served a seven-year prison term after protests over the 2009 elections on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the regime.”

Tajzadeh served as Political Deputy at the Interior Ministry, headed the Culture portfolio and was an adviser to former President Mohammad Khatami in 2004 and 2005.

Tajzadeh’s sentence comes amid protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini on Sep.16, following her arrest three days earlier by the country’s Moral Police for not wearing the Islamic veil properly.

Headscarves and modest dresses have been obligatory for women in Iran since 1983, shortly after the Islamic Revolution.

Iranian authorities said an autopsy showed Amini had died of an underlying illness and not as a result of police violence.

The young people of the country have been at the forefront of these protests with the slogan “Woman, life, freedom,” calling for more freedoms in the orthodox Islamic nation.

The authorities have cracked down on the protests, which have seen women even burn their veils, amid clashes between demonstrators and the security forces. EFE

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