"Dancing is not a crime", Iranian women write in protest against the arrest of a teenager

"Dancing is not a crime", several Iranian women write about dance videos that they share via social networks. The videos are a support of the Iranian Maedeh Hojabri, 18 years old. She was arrested last week for her dance videos which on instagram reach thousands of followers.

In the movies, Maedeh dances the house unveiled on music from the Middle East and the West. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, there are strict rules regarding clothing and dancing in public. For example, women and girls over the age of 13 must wear a headscarf and can only dance publicly with the opposite sex in the presence of immediate family members.

Shortly after her arrest, Maedeh cried on television. In early 2018, an official was arrested after public dances in a mall in the northeastern city of Mashad, last summer there were arrests for Zumba dance lessons and in 2014 six Iranians arrested for a YouTube video of their own version of Happy Pharrell Williams

After the arrest of Maeda, statements of support from other women appear on the Internet. In this film, they also dance for the camera, as the Iranian activist Masih Alinejad. Maeda's story was also blocked in Iran after his arrest. However, his videos in Iran can still be seen through other instagram accounts and his account is still accessible from abroad. (BBC)