The career of a rising young Iranian actor
Zahra Amir Ebrahimi has been left in tatters by
the widespread distribution of a private film showing her having sex.
Police
are investigating the woman, who has not been officially named, for a
suspected breach of Iran’s strict morality laws forbidding sex outside
marriage. Unmarried people who break the law are subject to punishment
by lashing.
Investigators have also asked Interpol to arrest and extradite the woman’s male partner, who is thought to have fled to Dubai.
The man is suspected of distributing the explicit film, which may have been shot using a camcorder with the woman’s consent.
If convicted, he faces up to three years in jail and a L6,000 fine.
However,
the biggest impact could be on his partner’s hitherto burgeoning screen
career. The actress, who is in her mid-20s, appeared destined to land
more roles in television dramas and Iran’s small but lively film
industry after her role in a popular soap opera. But the stigma of
sexual scandal now makes that unlikely.
Stringent
Islamic rules preclude even cursory touching between men and women in
Iranian productions, while foreign programmes and films are rigorously
censored for illicit inter-gender contact.
The
incriminating film is believed to be two years old but began
circulating as a DVD and on some websites a few weeks ago, titillating
a public starved of the celebrity gossip common in western media.
It came to the attention of the morals police, who are charged with enforcing Iran’s Islamic laws.
Police
said they have not established a motive for the film’s distribution.
Tehran’s chief prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, has ordered a “special
investigation”.
Tehran’s police chief,
Brigadier-General Ahmadreza Radan, told reporters that the film’s
participants would also be subject to prosecution.
Police have banned the naming of those involved.
News of the case has prompted a flurry of speculation that the actress attempted suicide after her interrogation.
However,
she told the ILNA news agency: “I just want to tell my country’s people
that I am alive. I should think of Iranian women’s strength and defend
the respect of the girls and women of my nation.”
The
illegal copying and distribution of private films and pictures of local
celebrities is a growing trend in Iran, sometimes with serious
consequences for the subjects.
In one instance, a
television presenter was fired by the state broadcasting company after
being filmed dancing with the bride (to whom he was not related) at a
wedding.