Afsaneh Baygan summoned to court for not observing mandatory hijab

Veteran actress Afsaneh Baygan announced that she was summoned to the prosecutor's office for failing to comply with the mandatory hijab.

Afsaneh Baygan's presence in the past two months (May) at the ceremony honoring Attila Pesiani, which was held at the Artists' House, and the pictures published of her without a hijab and wearing earrings symbolizing a lion and the sun, received widespread coverage in cyberspace.

Now, videos of her being published on social media have brought her to court. Afsaneh Baygan is against compulsory hijab and two months ago she went to the theater wearing a hat to see the play "Love Cafe". Now, based on Article 640 of the Islamic Penal Code and according to the indictment, she has been charged with an act against public decency and morality (exposing an object) and has been summoned to the court on Saturday, July 7, for some explanations.

Afsaneh Baygan wrote on her personal Instagram page: "Two months ago, I attended the Cafe Ashegi theater in the Shahrzad performance hall while wearing a hat. This hat covered most of my head and only a little of my hair and neck were visible. One of the people behind the scenes of the show asked my opinion at the end of the show, and out of respect for the group's efforts and to say, 'Don't be tired,' I answered them, and the video they took of me with my phone was published on social media."

"Now I have been charged with Article 640, which means exposing an object! Which is against public decency and morality. We conclude that in this interpretation, I am being investigated as an object. That is, if I appear on the street without a hijab, I will be subject to the provisions of Article 638 and am entitled to a fine, but if I attend a performance wearing a hat, am I entitled to a year in prison?"

According to Ms. Baygan, her case has been referred to Branch 1088, a branch where a judge is brought from the Besat Judicial Complex to the Ershad Judicial Complex for a few hours to make a few important rulings and then return. Ms. Baygan criticized the indictment, saying: “The indictment states that the punishment stipulated in the note to Article 638 is not enough for me and that a severe treatment is necessary. Why? Because I am an artist.”

He also emphasized that in previous years he had participated in the Fajr International Film Festival wearing the same attire and that photos of him had been published on social media, but he had not received a single warning for this attire. He continued: "Do I have the knowledge of the unseen to know that today the same style of attire is considered a crime?"