Iran’s cyber police have arrested Seyran Arabi, a young Kurdish blogger from Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, and blocked the blogger’s personal Instagram account on the orders of judicial authorities.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that the cyber police arrested Arabi on 23 August and transferred the blogger to a court in the city.
Mahabad’s police commander claimed that the arrest followed the “publication of a post insulting and mocking renowned artist Mohammad Mamle”, which had “prompted a widespread reaction from admirers of culture and art”.
The official said the cyber police investigated the matter under a special order following complaints from members of the cultural and artistic community, identified Arabi and made the arrest.
Arabi had reportedly published several videos apologising to the artist’s family and the public before the arrest and had also deleted the post.
An informed source told KHRN that some social media users had harassed and threatened Arabi and her family following the publication of the video.
