Monday, March 3, 2003
68 young Iranians arrested for Internet dating
Agence France-Presse Tehran, March 3
Sixty-eight young Iranian men and women have been rounded up by an Islamic militia and accused of using the Internet to arrange illicit sexual encounters, the official IRNA news agency said on Sunday.
"Some people were using an Internet site to allow girls and boys to talk and arrange meetings in a place in north Tehran where they had illegal relations," said General Ahmad Rouzbehani, a commander of the Basij militia. "All these people were arrested during one operation," added the general, whose men are the ideological police of the Islamic regime.
It is the first time that the Iranian authorities have announced an operation against Internet users.
Police and volunteer militias such as the Basij regularly mount raids on mixed parties to enforce Iran's strict morality laws.
Around three per cent of Tehran's residents have Internet access, according to official figures.
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