An Iranian judge has accused a journalist of ‘encouraging corruption’ with her short haircut.

Accused Marzieh Amiri – a journalist and a social sciences student at the University of Tehran – was seized by security forces during a street protest on 31st October.

She was sent to grim Evin Prison on remand for 47 days before being released on bail.

During her time in custody, she was reportedly denied access to a lawyer.

She recently went on trial at the 28th Branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court on charges of ‘association and collusion’, ‘encouraging corruption’, and ‘propaganda against the regime’.

Her sister Samira later took to social media to reveal that during the hearing, the judge had told Marzieh that she had encouraged corruption with her short haircut.

The judge allegedly told Marzieh: “After you cut your hair, your sister will do the same.”

As a journalist, Marzieh wrote for Shargh Newspaper on economics.

She has been arrested several times in the past, with human rights activists widely considering her a political prisoner.

During the ongoing protests, Iranian women have been cutting off their hair as an anti-government gesture.

Marzieh’s trial is ongoing.

Protests broke out in Iran on 16th September after morality police fatally beat 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini for wearing her hijab “improperly”.

According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 522 people have been killed, among them 70 minors.

HRANA also reports that nearly 20,000 have been arrested, 110 of them on charges punishable by death. Four have been executed.