A 19-year-old Iranian girl who was arrested last year for posting distorted photos of herself on Instagram has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Fatemeh Khishvand, popularly known as Sahar Tabar became a star on Instagram after posting images of herself where she looked like a “zombie”. She had 486,000 followers on Instagram at one point.
Tabar was charged with corruption of young people and disrespect for the Islamic Republic. After requesting leniency earlier in the year because she was infected with coronavirus, she has now been sentenced to 10 years behind bars, according to reports.
The teenager was previously charged with blasphemy, inciting violence, gaining income through inappropriate means, and encouraging youths to corruption. She reportedly said that two of those charges were dropped, but did not disclose the two charges that were dropped because she was still hoping for pardon.
Tabar, who resembled Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, in some of her photos, called on the actress at one point for help to campaign for her release, saying:
“The Islamic Republic has a history of tormenting women. We need to be united against this gender apartheid.”
Iranian state TV which broadcast Tabar’s confession in October last year described her as “a victim with an abnormal personality and mental state” who sought “vulgarity” on social media. Her expressions of remorse drew a great deal of sympathy.
Update
There is an update to this story. Read on Dailymail
