Prosecution
In December 2006, eight people were arrested as part of the official investigation. The man in the tape, "Mr. X", who was believed to have been the one to disseminate it to the public, albeit accidentally, initially fled the country, taking up residence in Armenia. After Iranian investigators requested he be arrested, the man was apprehended and extradited shortly afterwards. He was reported to have claimed that he and the woman in the film were temporarily married at the time. Under the precepts of Shi'a Islam, sex during temporary marriage is permitted. Nevertheless, "Mr. X" was tried and imprisoned. The legal fate of the others arrested in this investigation, whether they were eventually exonerated or not, went unreported in the news media.
While Ebrahimi was banned from appearing in films or on television, no formal charges were ever filed against her. An Iranian judiciary official was quoted as saying: "It depends on finding out whether she had a deliberate role in the case ... If so, it is going to be dealt with as a case of corruption and prostitution." Some legal experts believed Ebrahimi’s denial would have been enough to avoid a guilty verdict had she been tried. Under Iranian law, film and video footage must be supported by additional evidence or a confession. Ebrahimi has stated that she fears her career in the Iranian entertainment industry may be over. If the actress (or another woman) were to have been charged and convicted, the punishment could have been severe. A woman found guilty of having sex outside marriage can face a penalty of up to 99 lashes with a leather strap.
While the west in the 21st century has been fairly inundated with such news, this was widely acknowledged by western news sources to have been the first celebrity sex tape scandal in Iran. Inside Iran, however, people claim that there have been others before this, but that this is the first one that was publicly acknowledged, and the first time the legal authorities decided to do something about it.
Read more about this topic: Iranian Sex Tape Scandal
Famous quotes containing the word prosecution:
“The prosecution of [Warren] Hastings, though he should escape at last, must have good effect. It will alarm the servants of the Company in India, that they may not always plunder with impunity, but that there may be a retrospect; and it will show them that even bribes of diamonds to the Crown may not secure them from prosecution.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)