By RFE/RL
An Iranian woman who peacefully protested the obligatory hijab rule by removing her head scarf in public in Tehran in December says she has been sentenced to two years in prison in addition to an 18-year suspended prison term.
Shaparak Shajarizadeh also says she has left Iran to escape "injustices."
In a live broadcast shared widely on social media this week, Shajarizadeh said that she was sentenced to prison for opposing the compulsory hijab.
“This means that I will have to be silent for 20 years and not get involved in an activities,” Shajarizadeh said on Instagram.
Prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who represented Shajarizadeh and other women arrested for opposing the compulsory hijab, was arrested last month.
Shajarizadeh, 42, was released on bail in late April.
In a video posted online on July 9, she said she has left Iran.
“Due to the injustices in Iran’s judicial system, I had to leave the country,” she said.
Earlier this year, Iranian authorities announced they had detained 29 women who removed their head scarves as part of a campaign against the country's mandatory Islamic dress code.
Police claimed the women had been “tricked” into removing their veil by a propaganda campaign being conducted by Iranians living abroad.
Women's dress has been heavily scrutinized in Iran since the 1979 revolution, when adherence to an Islamic dress code became compulsory.
The dress code dictates that women's hair and body must be covered in public.
Morality police launch regular crackdowns on those who are not fully respecting rules relating to the hijab.
