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Political message on the red carpet: Iranian-born model Mahlagha Jaberi during the 76th Cannes Film Festival
Photo: Andreas Rentz / Getty Images
In 2022, Mahlagha Jaberi still presented herself in transparent nothingness, garnished by a few velcro feathers - this year she made a political statement on the red carpet in Cannes that testifies to courage: With a noose around her neck, the Iranian-born model caused a sensation at the film festival on Friday evening.
With her appearance – beige rope to a long black dress – Jaberi protested against the practice of executions in Iran. The Islamic Republic systematically uses the death penalty to intimidate the population.
The number of executions under the arch-conservative and repressive regime increased by 2022 percent in 75, according to human rights organizations; the death toll has almost doubled from 2021 to 2022 – from 314 to 576.
"The international community must not condone such medieval practices," said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Norway-based organization Iran Human Rights (IHR). The execution shows the "true face of a government that ensures its survival with cruelty, humiliation and intimidation of society."
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