Iranian woman jailed for not wearing headscarf

  • 09/03/2018
More than 30 women have been arrested in recent weeks for taking part in 'White Wednesday' protests.
More than 30 women have been arrested in recent weeks for taking part in 'White Wednesday' protests. Photo credit: Getty

An Iranian woman who removed her headscarf in protest has been jailed for two years.

The unnamed woman "encouraged moral corruption" in public, Tehran's chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi - a man - told the court, according to reports.

Women have been required to wear at least a hijab while in public since the country's Islamic revolution of 1979. In recent years prosecutors have shown "tolerance" to women who wear theirs loosely, but Mr Dolatabadi said authorities will no longer accept deliberate flouting of the rules.

"We must act with force against people who deliberately question the rules on the Islamic veil," he said, according to local reports.

The woman is reportedly appealing the sentence. She will be eligible for parole after three months.

More than 30 women have been arrested in recent weeks for taking part in 'White Wednesday' protests against the rules.

The arrests come only months after Tehran's police chief said women wouldn't be detained anymore over dress code violations.

Before the 1979 revolution, Iranian women wore clothes similar to women in the West, including miniskirts, singlets and shorts.

Newshub.