An Iranian actress, Leila Hatami who starred in the Oscar-winning fim "A Separation" angered religious authorities after she kissed the cheek of the president of Cannes Film Festival, Gilles Jacob and now she faces a call that she be publicly flogged by various groups in her country.
After the controversial kiss on the cheek, many hardline media outlets in Iran used the headlines "Leila Hatami kisses a strange man" to accompany the pictures to the dissaproval of hard line media and conservative political parties in her country.
A few days later, a group of female Iranian students wrote to Tehran’s minister of culture and media, Al Jannati. “We ask actress Leila Hatami be sentenced to one to ten years imprisonment and flogging,” the petition read. “We refer you to article 638 of Islamic Penal Code, which deems punishment for those who commit a sin in public. Leila Hatami, who is a beloved public personality in our Islamic nation, did not observe the proper Islamic attire and intentionally, and with full knowledge of her actions, volunteered to kiss a foreign non-Muslim man.” The group signed the petition the “Student Sisters of Hezbollah.”
What do you guys think of this? Massive over reaction or do the Iranians have the right to enforce moral codes unto artists who represent their country?
Do consider both sides of the argument.