Regarding the Trial of Khordadian - 2002-07-04

In connection with the trial of a famous dancer in Iran, news agencies report new strict measures by the judiciary against youth. More details can be heard from a report prepared by the Persian section of Voice of America based on news agency reports. AFP, the French news agency, reports from Tehran citing judiciary officials about the trial of Mohammad Khordadian, an Iranian dancer and artist residing in America, who was arrested in May in Tehran on charges of promoting corruption among youth. The news agency cites an unnamed judiciary official stating that this famous dancer was taken to court in prison clothes by two police officers to a court responsible for handling charges related to immoral conduct. According to the same official, Mr. Khordadian was returned to Evin Prison after the trial, and it is expected that the court's ruling regarding him will be issued within the next ten days. The San Francisco Chronicle states that if the court finds Mr. Khordadian guilty, he may face a ten-year prison sentence. The French news agency reports that Mr. Khordadian, during the trial, denied the charges and emphasized that dancing does not encourage youth towards moral corruption, stating in a lengthy defense that he considers dance a form of exercise. However, the San Francisco Chronicle quotes the judge stating that many of the video tapes containing his dances support his actions to corrupt youth. Both the French news agency and the San Francisco Chronicle report on a new wave of strict measures against youth coinciding with Mr. Khordadian's trial in Tehran. Reports also indicate encounters with young girls and boys who have been accused of socializing together and playing loud music in their cars. Mr. Khordadian was arrested at Mehrabad Airport in early May when he was about to return to America after his first trip to Iran in twenty-two years since the Islamic Revolution. Mr. Khordadian, who had a dance group and school in Los Angeles, is a well-known figure among Iranians inside and outside the country. The video tapes containing his dances, which the Islamic Republic deems illegal, are sold in the black market in Tehran. These tapes show Mr. Khordadian dancing with women who do not wear Islamic hijab. The regulations of the Islamic Republic also prohibit men and women from dancing together.