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Jumping from one terrace to another risking his life is not what has led Alireza Japalaghy to the dungeon . Yes it has been to publish a photograph, in which he appeared half-naked kissing a girl on top of a building, and stand up to the agents who summoned him at the police station to give explanations for his action, liable to be persecuted in the Islamic Republic Iranian.

The Iranian Police has confirmed the arrest and his reasons. "In recent days, images of a young boy and girl displaying inappropriate and unconventional behavior during sports ( parkour ) have circulated through cyberspace , which is an act of dissemination of immorality. Both were arrested by the Police by orders of a judicial authority ", quotes the agency Tasnim. "It was not for sport," emphasizes the news.

In the Iranian cybersphere, the images had mostly caused a furor. Alireza had earned for months a community of followers on Instagram thanks to her shocking videos, in which she appeared jumping and performing risky maneuvers through the blocks of houses in the wealthy neighborhoods of Tehran.

His fame crossed the borders of Iran, and the limits of the permissible in the country, when he included a girl in his images. She, with her hair uncovered and dressed in a top and short leggings, appeared kissing with him, without a shirt, sitting on the edge of the terrace of a building, at sunset. The boy shared this photo via Twitter, quickly causing applause and unrest from the authorities.

In Iran, a traditional distinction is made between the private and public spheres. In the latter, especially, she obliges herself to maintain certain guidelines of modesty, at the head of all the wearing of headscarves by women. Failure to do so in public may amount to promoting your contradiction. In addition, the Iranian Penal Code, based on sharia or Islamic law, punishes up to 10 years in prison for "the spread of corruption and prostitution on the net".

On May 17, Japalghy published on his Instagram account that he had received a call from the authorities ordering him to go to the police station to explain his actions, and that not doing so would mean his arrest. "I am not afraid. If you want to arrest me you can come here whenever you want," he added in his post.

This public challenge, according to Tasnim, has added to the reasons for his arrest. A day later, the boy's younger brother announced on Instagram the arrest of the athlete. "They did not show any arrest warrant, they came to our house and detained him. He has not done anything wrong other than posting sports videos, I do not understand," he said. Subsequently, the girl in the images was also arrested.

Many Iranians have expressed their outrage over the couple's supervision through social networks. Some Internet users wonder whether, in a harsh context of economic crisis due to both US sanctions and serious cases of corruption, it is not counterproductive to prosecute such crimes, as they can alleviate part of the hard-pressed population.

On the Iranian network, both Twitter and Facebook are censored. Instagram is not, a platform used massively and that, recently, the Cyber ​​Police has warned that it considers it an extension of the country. And that, therefore, the rules in it must conform to the same. Agents this week have reported the arrest of 320 people for posting photos without the required veil.

In accordance with the criteria of The Trust Project

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