In Iran, they were the kings of the world. Rich, handsome, friendly, athletic, with two very pretty children, the couple were among the most famous Instagram figures in the country, one of the only uncensored social networks. With his long black hair, Shabnam Shahrokhi, followed by 870,000 followers on Instagram, is a kick boxer of mesmerizing beauty. Her husband Ahmad Moin Shirazi, known as Picasso, is the ideal man for many. In addition, this former kickboxing champion continues to demand on his Instagram page, followed by almost 600,000 subscribers, gender equality in an Islamic Republic of Iran, where women are often considered to be inferior to men. .
However, this perfect life was shattered when the couple was forced, in September 2019, to leave their homeland for Turkey. At the end of April, Ahmad Moin Shirazi announced that he had been sentenced to nine years in prison and Shabnam Shahrokhi to seven years. Aged 38, the latter also received 74 lashes. The list of charges against the couple is quite long: "Propaganda" against the regime, publication of "Obscene and vulgar content" on the Web, "Having acted against public morals" and "Spread of moral corruption".
"My file was about 500 pages long, Shabnam's, let's say 1,000 pages, because she had a lot of posts without a veil. Ahmad Moin Shirazi.
Before the sentence fell, the couple had told M The magazine of the World, his ordeal in his apartment in Istanbul. "It all started when one day in early summer 2019 I received a hidden call on my phone, explains Ahmad Moin Shirazi. No one except the system people has access to this option in Iran. I knew immediately that it did not bode well. " On the other end, agents from the intelligence ministry. The couple, owners of two gyms, were summoned a week later and interrogated, each in turn, for four hours. "My file was around 500 pages long, that of Shabnam, let's say 1000 pages, because she had a lot of posts without a veil"remembers Ahmad Moin Shirazi. If women have to cover their heads and their whole bodies (except the face and hands), on Instagram, many Iranian women dare to break this red line, not without risk.
Publish content in favor of the regime or leave
Since the arrival of the social network in Iran in the early 2010s, the two Iranians have shared snippets of their daily lives: the couple's training sessions, Shabnam Shahrokhi always without veils, from time to time in tank tops and shorts, their charitable or ecological activities (including a campaign to collect butts), the birth of their children, very rarely the advertisement for certain products. The agents criticize Ahmad Moin Shirazi for his publications denouncing the corruption of the authorities, poverty and the lack of freedom in the country, but also for his displays of love for his wife. "They called me corrupt, explain the man. But the worst for them was the photos of Shabnam without veil side by side with my mother, she veiled. They couldn't stand the idea that people are starting to think that the two genres, veiled and unveiled, can coexist in Iran ". "They accused me of wanting to normalize the abolition of the law of the veil"continues Shabnam Shahrokhi.
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