A video posted online by a group of Iranian female activists in support of a woman arrested for protesting mandatory head-scarf rules has gone viral just days after she appeared on television making a "confession" they allege was made under duress.
In the video published by on social media on August 16, the activists recite a piece of poetry titled The Confession, written by an anonymous user who uses the moniker "Darya."
The poem is addressed to Sepideh Rashno, a 28-year-old writer and artist who was arrested on June 15 after a video of her arguing with another woman who was enforcing rules on head scarfs on a bus in Tehran was posted online.
Iranian authorities have not provided any information about Rashno's case, nor her state of health since she was taken into custody.
The poem says Rashno remains in the country's memory and praises her "beauty, courage, and pride."
Rashno was riding the bus without wearing the mandatory hijab. The other woman took a video of her and threatened to send it to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
After she disappeared for several days, Iranian state television aired a "confession" by Rashno in a video report on July 30 where she appeared to be in a poor physical state.
The Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency, the media outlet for Human Rights Activists in Iran, alleged on August 5 that Rashno had been beaten before she confessed on air to breaking the country's hijab law.
The group cited eyewitnesses who said Rashno appeared to move slowly and was hospitalized immediately after the video of her admitting her guilt was recorded.
Mooniter, the pseudonym of one of the female activists who participated in the video to support Rashno, said the poem was aimed at "raising the voices of women like Sepideh" and "women and people who have been taken hostage in Iran."