Outcry in Iran when a woman was whipped for not wearing a headscarf
Sylvie Claire / January 10, 2024
The Iranian judiciary has sentenced Kurdish activist Roya Heshmati to 74 lashes. She described the execution of her sentence in a comment shared on Facebook.
The Iranian judiciary confirmed her execution, adding that the lashes had been administered in accordance with the law.
Iranians were outraged by the procedure, particularly on social networks.
Ms. Heshmati was detained in April after publishing her portrait without a headscarf, which is a requirement in Iran, reports the Shargh media. She was subsequently prosecuted for various violations. She won an appeal against a sentence of over 13 years' imprisonment, her lawyer Masiar Tatati confirmed to this media outlet. However, the sentence of lashes was confirmed.
Ms. Heshmati announced the sentence in October on her Facebook page, which is no longer accessible. On January 3, Ms. Heshmati wrote that she had presented herself to the authorities, and described being whipped in "a medieval torture chamber ».
This comes just over a year after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, who was arrested by the Iranian morality police for violating the dress code imposed on women. Her death caused a stir both nationally and internationally, and was followed by a wave of demonstrations in Iran.
Since then, women's protests against compulsory veiling have multiplied across the country.