When 18-year old Maedeh Hojabri posted her dance videos on Instagram, she probably was excited about the kind of traction it will get. However, Iranian authorities ensured that her worries were altogether different.
According to a report in the Associated Press, State TV (Iran) broadcasted a video, last week, the teenager admitted breaking moral norms, however, she insisted that it was not her intention. She was only trying to increase followers on her Instagram account.
Hojabri’s Instagram account, which is now deleted, had around 300 videos. Most of her videos were shot in her bedroom where she is dancing in Iranian and Western styles. In many other videos, she appears without wearing the obligatory headscarf.
The original account of Hojabri has been shut down, but her videos are posted on many other accounts as well. Watch some of them here:
AP also reported that Hojabri was later released on bail. According to Shabooneh, a local news website, three other individuals were also released on bail on similar charges.
The report also suggests that the Iranian police has planned to shut down other similar accounts on Instagram as well. Also, the judiciary is considering blocking access to the site.
Soon after the news broke, people on social media started posting their views on the same.
#مائده_هژبری
As long as you live in #Iran you are not safe. That’s the reason most of artist had immigrated. #MaedehHojabri is a teenage girl who dances really good, because of her dancing art and uploading in #Instagram she has been imprisoned.#SaveIranians#IranRegimeChange pic.twitter.com/xMdaeOD3y6— Farhad Mottaghi (@farhad_mottaghi) July 7, 2018
This women was arrested in the Islamic Republic of Iran & forced to confess on state tv that she regrets recording & uploading her dancing videos.That’s what #ShariaLaw means for people’s daily life. It ruins lives of people & a whole county.#MaedehHojabri#DanceOfFreedom pic.twitter.com/8SXMBXa3Q2
— Darya Safai (@SafaiDarya) July 8, 2018
#MaedehHojabri is a teenage girl who was uploading her own dance in #Instagram! Because of it Police arrested her! She is a teenager who is in jail right now Because of dancing!
In #Iran all the peoples are criminals because they don’t want to live Islamic style.#مائده_هژبری pic.twitter.com/LeLCIuZyK3— Nahid Seif (@NahidSeif) July 7, 2018
The Islamist regime in Iran arrested #MaedehHojabri for uploading her dance videos on Instagram and then she was released on bail. Her sentence will come soon, and often, the persecutor harshly sentences women in Iran.#IranRegimeChange #DiscriminationAgainstWomen pic.twitter.com/OSWe53WHnU
— Iranian American (@IranLionness) July 7, 2018
she is an Iranian girl , she got arrested for uploading her dance video to instagram !
RELIGION OF FREEDOM pic.twitter.com/nz5EyClCk0
— सुराख़ अली हबीबुल्ला (@alisurakh) July 8, 2018
اینجا بام رامسر، من با حمایت و همراهی همسرم میرقصم. با زندان و تهدید و تحقیر نمیتوانند سبک زندگی خودشان را به آدمها تحمیل کرد. لطفا شما هم به هشتگ #برقص_تا_برقصیم بپیوندید
We Iranian are dancing to protest the arrest of #MaedehHijabri and other teenagers.
Dancing is not a crime pic.twitter.com/A1ZjjeGMqo— Masih Alinejad (@AlinejadMasih) July 8, 2018
