Iran releases Oscar-winning film actress Taraneh Alidoosti arrested for supporting protests
Alidoosti, whose movie, The Salesman, won the Oscars, was among various other celebrities who showed her support for the ongoing protests in Iran. Photo: dailyO
Iran has released Oscar-winning film actress Taraneh Alidoosti, who was jailed for supporting anti-government protests in the country. She was arrested on December 20, 2022.
Why was she arrested? Alidoosti, whose movie, The Salesman won an Oscar, was among various other celebrities who showed their support for the ongoing protests in Iran against mandatory hijab laws. She had expressed her support by posting a series of posts on her Instagram account, which now is disabled. One of the posts defied the mandatory hijab laws, and in another post she talked about the executions that were being done by the Iranian regime.
Soon she was arrested. As her arrest was not enough, media reports said that after 17 days, she was transferred to solitary confinement.
This comes after Iran's government on Monday, January 2, was called out by at least 600 filmmakers and artists including Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson, Cillian Murphy from all over the globe, who had signed a petition demanding the Islamic Republic to free Taraneh Alidousti.
The statement for the petition was, "We want her free."
What's going on in Iran?
Protests started in Iran after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the infamous morality police of the country. She was arrested for not wearing hijab properly, and she died on September 16, 2022.
Her death led to huge protests from the capital Tehran to small cities like Karaj and later moved to other parts of the country.
As of January 4, 516 protestors have been killed, according to the rights group HRANA.
Iran has also hanged two 23-year-old protesters in less than a week in the month of December.
Taraneh Alidoosti's filmography: In The Salesman, Alidoosti plays a lady whose marriage is strained when she is sexually abused in her apartment. The plot develops against the backdrop of a local production of Arthur Miller's classic play "Death of a Salesman", in which the woman and her husband play the lead roles.
Alidoosti has also appeared in films such as The Beautiful City and About Elly.