Iranian Actress Sentenced to Jail and 90 Lashes
- by: Care2.com
- recipient: Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, Office of the Head of the Judiciary Islamic, Republic of Iran
Marzieh Vafamehr took a risk, and now she's paying for it. Just this past weekend, the Iranian actress was sentenced to one year in jail and 90 lashes.
Vafamehr was jailed in July for playing the main part in a 2009 Australian film about the stifling artistic climate in Iran. The film, called My Tehran for Sale, tells the story of a young actress in the theater whose performances are banned by the government. Distributed illegally in Iran, the film depicts rave party scenes, and Vafamehr appears without her hijab and with a shaved head.
Sign this petition to show your support for this artist whose only crime is self-expression.
I am writing out of deep concern regarding Marzieh Vafemehr, the accomplished Iranian actress who was recently sentenced to one year in jail and 90 lashes.
The Australian-produced film, called My Tehran for Sale, depicts Marzieh Vafemehr as a theater actress whose work is censored by authorities. The details of why Vafemehr is being charged have not been made public, but in the film, she appears without a habjib and even shaves her head. There are also scenes revealing modern Iranians at a party, wearing Western-style clothing.
No matter how offensive this is to certain traditional factions of Iranian society, every human being deserves the freedom to use art to speak their minds, even when that message runs counter to popularly accepted notions of social and moral life. These messages, in fact, are the fertilizer that spur humanity's march towards progress and enlightenment, as we shed the dark cruelties of the past and learn to treat each and every individual as they deserve.
I encourage you to take another look at Marzieh Vafemehr's case and release her immediately. The court's punitive actions against her are absolutely ludicrous in light of her supposed "crime." Please drop all charges at once.
Sincerely,
[your name here]
