Iranian women's rights activist Sepideh Rashno, a vocal critic of the country's compulsory head scarf law, said she has been ordered to begin a prison sentence of three years and 11 months.
The activist, who was arrested in June 2022 after a video of her arguing with another woman who was enforcing rules on wearing a head scarf on a bus in Tehran went viral, shared the news with her social media followers on February 15, noting that she also faces a travel ban.
The other woman in the altercation with Rashno threatened to send the video -- which showed Rashno riding the bus without a hijab, or Islamic head scarf -- to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
In July 2022, several days after she disappeared, Iranian state television aired a video "confession" by Rashno in which she appeared to be in a poor physical state. She was reportedly rushed to the hospital after the video was recorded.
Rashno's sentence encompasses three years and seven months in prison for the initial altercation on the bus and an additional four months related to charges of "announcing her suspension from university," and a financial penalty for "attending court in her choice of attire" as she refused to wear a hijab.
Just weeks after Rashno's arrest, mass protests erupted around the country after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in September 2022 while in police custody after being arrested by morality police in Tehran for allegedly "improperly" wearing a hijab.
Rashno, 28, said she has been instructed to report to Evin Prison in the coming days to commence her sentence.
In her social media posts, she commented on the travel ban being imposed on her, saying “it holds little weight for someone with no plans to leave the country.”
The hijab became compulsory in public for Iranian women and girls above the age of 9 after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Many Iranian women have flouted the rule over the years in protest and pushed the boundaries of what officials say is acceptable clothing.