Models arrested in Iran for posing on Instagram without headcarves
15:13, 16/05/2016, MondayU: Update: 15:29, 16/05/2016, Monday
Yeni Şafak
Fashion models arrested for posting pictures without headscarves
Eight fashion models were arrested in Iran for posing on social media, including Instagram, without headscarves, Iran's state-owned television reported late on Sunday.
Wearing the headscarf in public has been mandatory for women in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
The head of Tehran's cyber-crimes court, Javad Babaei, said the arrests were made under a sting operation, Spider II, targeting models, who circulated their photos online with uncovered heads.
Under the two-year-old operation, the court has identified 170 people and two institutions running online Instagram pages, including 58 models, 51 fashion salon directors and designers, 59 makeup artists and photographers.
Some of the co-defendants had faced with serious charges during the criminal case, such as spreading prostitution and promoting corruption. There are still 21 active criminal cases targeting fashion circles.
The National, the English-language voice in the Middle East, quoted Babaei as saying they found that about 20 percent of the (Iranian) Instagram feed is run by modelling groups. “They have been making and spreading immoral and un-Islamic culture and promiscuity," he stressed.
The photo-sharing mobile application Instagram is accessible to Iranians, unlike Facebook, Twitter and YouTube which remain blocked.
