Iranian blogger couple sentenced to prison on security charges

The bloggers received five-year terms each for "collusion against national security" by using their social media accounts to stir protests in Iran.

The couple was also charged with "spreading indecency" (Twitter/@Framingfreedom)

An Iranian couple who appeared in a video dancing romantically have been jailed for 10-1/2 years each on charges of indecency and threatening national security, the activist HRANA news agency said, though a judiciary organ said they received shorter terms for a security offence only.

"By investigating their case..., it is clear that anti-revolutionary forces have falsely reported the charges by claiming each were sentenced to 10 years," the country's judiciary's Mizan news agency said.

Mizan said the couple, bloggers Astiaj Haghighi and Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, received five-year terms each for "collusion against national security" by using their social media accounts, with one million followers, to stir protests in Iran.

It made no mention of an indecency charge.

Tanzen am Freiheitsplatz in Teheran. Das Instagram-Paar Astiaj Haghighi und AmirMohammad Amiri wurden im Herbst nach der Veröffentlichung von Beamten in Zivil zusammengeschlagen und festgenommen. Nun haben sie jeweils 10,5Jahre Haft bekommen. #MahsaAmini pic.twitter.com/EZR4bEewUI
— Golineh Atai (@GolinehAtai) January 30, 2023

HRANA said the couple had been charged with "spreading indecency" and with "collusion with the intention of disrupting national security".

Iranian authorities reported the sentencing of Haghighi and Ahmadi amid a wider crackdown on popular unrest touched off by the death of woman Mahsa Amini after morality police arrested her for violating the country's dress code.