Arumugam wrote asking that we publicise the case of Zahra Amir Ebrahimi.
Here is the report that was sent to us:
In 2006, 25 year old actress Zahra Amir Ebrahimi became the centre of an Iranian sex tape scandal when a videotape of a woman having sex with a man was leaked to the internet and released on DVD. She subsequently became the subject of an official investigation handled by Tehran’s chief prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi.
If found guilty, she will be executed.
The unnamed man on the tape, who is suspected of releasing it, reportedly fled to Armenia but was subsequently returned to Iran and charged with breach of public morality laws.
In an interview with the Guardian, Zahra Amir Ebrahimi denied being the woman in the film and dismissed it as a fake made by a vengeful former fiancé who used studio techniques to form a montage of incriminating images designed to destroy her career.
Rumors of an attempted suicide were also denied by Zahra with a public message: “I just want to tell my country’s people I am alive. I am thinking about the strength of Iranian women and will defend the respect of the girls and women of my nation.”