Iranian Gymnast Detained Over Dance Videos On Instagram

An Iranian gymnast is literally facing the music for posting her dance videos on Instagram. The teenager’s videos were widely criticized after State TV broadcast them recently. The videos show Maedeh Hojabri, 18-year-old gymnast, dancing for her followers and making a bold statement of breaking the societal norms. Following the outcry, the teenager has been detained.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk97YGZnGhS/?utm_source=ig_embed

While she has been accused of breaking moral norms, Hojabri has denied the blame, saying that her intention was not to go against traditional boundaries, but to increase the number of followers. It is not clear whether her statement was given under coercion or not.

Shabooneh, a local news website, called out Hojabri and three other individuals’ acts against morality a disgraceful event and they were detained on similar charges in recent weeks. However, they were released on bail later, according to the Associated Press.

Teenage dancer, Maedeh Hojabri, was arrested in Iran. She used to record dance videos in her bedroom and upload them to her instagram with 600K followers.#مائده_هژبرى pic.twitter.com/3EDVR9veV3

— Negar Mortazavi (@NegarMortazavi) July 8, 2018

With around 300 videos shared on her account, Hojabri flaunts dance moves in both Iranian and Western styles. She has ditched the hijab in those, thus breaking the obligatory Islamic headscarf tradition. Her performances have garnered her thousands of followers on various accounts with her name on them, ranging from 12,000 to 66,000 followers and counting.

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A post shared by mahi maedeh (@mahi_maedeh_hojabri)

The Iranian police have confirmed taking serious actions against such accounts on Instagram.

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Several supporters on social media are speaking up against the overall situation in Iran, and how the lives of women there is controlled and manipulated.

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

#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 🏴i’m with people (@NahidSeif) July 7, 2018

#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 فرهاد متقی (@farhad_mottaghi) July 7, 2018

Maedeh is one of Iranian dancer she got arrested by government because of her dance video in Instagram . same things that you and your friend do every day.can you support her ? @AmandaCerny #مائده_هژبری pic.twitter.com/jRwdTRpxLt

— لَهو و لَعب (@russell_lunatic) July 7, 2018

#Iran just arrested a teenage girl #MaedehHojabri because of her dance and performances video. Before 40 years ago, dance were taught in school in Iran but after the Islamic revolution 1979 it became a big crime! pic.twitter.com/n68l7enKx1

— Arash Sigarchi (@sigarchi) July 7, 2018

This year marks Iranian women taking a leap forward when they were allowed to watch Iran’s FIFA 2018 World Cup clash with Spain after Tehran’s provincial council gave the nod. It’s been 40 years that the women have been banned from watching men’s sporting events in Iran. But the law still doesn't allow "un-Islamic behaviour".

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Feature Image Credit: Arab News

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