Fact-Check | The Islamic Republic Denies the Arrest of Sadegh Boqi as 'False'

In a report published by the Poligraph website, a fact-checking project of Voice of America, on December 28, the arrest of Sadegh Baqeri, known as 'Sadegh Boqi', who is an Iranian stallholder in the coastal city of Rasht, was examined. He was arrested for posting a video of himself dancing and singing a local song, along with the applause and dancing of spectators, which he had published on his Instagram page at the end of November. At that time, Mr. Baqeri's Instagram page had 120,000 followers. After the video went viral, the Gilan police arrested him along with other men who accompanied him in the video. The content of his Instagram page was also deleted by the police and replaced with the message: 'This page has been blocked due to the production of criminal content and based on the criminal instances specified in the Computer Crimes Law.' Following the seizure of Sadegh Baqeri's account and reports from Rasht media that labeled his charges as 'immorality', the police faced severe criticism. Hundreds of Iranian women and men began filming themselves repeating the same local dance and song and sharing it on social media in protest against Baqeri's arrest. Subsequently, the Gilan police command issued a statement through the province's communications department denying Baqeri's arrest, claiming that 'no one has been arrested in connection with the release of a film in the Rasht market.' This claim is false. Numerous pieces of evidence, including responses from senior officials, press reports, interviews, and statements from the Gilan police at the time of the arrest, confirm the legal pursuit of Baqeri and others. The New York Times reported, citing an anonymous source, that the detainees, including Baqeri, were beaten while blindfolded and were coerced into pledging not to sing or dance again. Ezzatollah Zarghami, the Minister of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, also criticized the Gilan police in a statement confirming Baqeri's arrest. He stated, 'We have a problem with producing joy... If an old man celebrates joy at his shop or sings a folk song, he is accused, but if he did the same joy during religious occasions, he would be encouraged.' Iranian journalists also joined this criticism on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Abbas Abdi, an Iranian journalist and civil activist, wrote in a post: 'What justification do supporters of the status quo have for this level of discrimination in how the director of culture deals with that film and the arrest of the old man for expressing joy in a city? If you saw this in another country, what would your judgment be? Don't think that silence will solve the issue; these questions will accumulate and suddenly fall upon you.' The Gilan police also announced in a statement that they had requested the judiciary to reopen some related social media pages. Sadegh Baqeri's Instagram account, named 'Boq Online', which contains remix and dance posts, has been restored and now has over one million followers. This is not the first time Iranian officials have pursued individuals for dancing, singing, and sharing videos on social media. Last December, a court in Tehran sentenced a 20-year-old couple to ten years in prison for sharing a video of themselves dancing near the Azadi Tower in Tehran, accused of 'promoting corruption, prostitution, and propaganda against the regime.' In 2014, others were also sentenced to prison and flogging for 'dancing'. In 2022, the Iranian regime arrested over 500 people for participating in nationwide protests against the government killing of Mahsa Amini, accused of 'violating the mandatory hijab law.'