Iran

Iran’s Parliament on Wednesday passed a bill that increases penalties for women who break the country’s dress code, according to the official Iranian news agency IRNA. Under the new law, women can be punished with up to ten years in prison under the “Support for the Culture and Chastity of the Hijab Bill” that received the green light on Wednesday. The Bill has been approved for a three-year trial period. The law still needs to be approved by the Council of Guardians. The council consists of six Islamic scholars appointed by Iran’s supreme spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and six jurists nominated by the courts and approved by the Iranian parliament.
     Iranian law, built on the country’s interpretation of Sharia, requires women to cover their hair with a hijab and wear loose-fitting and long garments. In the past year, however, several women have deviated from the rules. This has happened in connection with demonstrations that were triggered almost exactly a year ago when the Mahsa Amini lost her life. 22-year-old Amini died on September 16, 2022. She lost consciousness in the custody of the Iranian morality police and lay in a coma for three days before her death. She had been arrested because, according to the Iranian authorities, her hijab did not cover her hair well enough. The morality police have been blamed by many for her death. /ritzau/AFP/