Parastoo Salehi, a film and television actress, was summoned to court on June 8, 2020, in connection with her participation in the protests following the downing of the International Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and for expressing her sympathy for the families of the victims. Salehi was charged during her hearing and released on bail. Salehi was banned from working and prohibited from leaving Iran. She had been summoned twice before, in 2018 and in 2019.

“Perhaps I still couldn’t believe that criticism, protesting and demanding reform were considered crimes. It is a crime and I am a criminal. From today, I will remain silent because of my loneliness, I will remain silent out of respect for my mother’s white hair, I will remain silent because of my brother’s heartbeat, I will be silent because of the tears in my eyes which I have shed today in my innocence and vulnerability. I will remain silent as it is more powerful than shouting aloud… My publication of this statement will have added another crime to my case but this is the last crime that I will commit. This is my final crime.” 

Salehi was banned from working and prohibited from leaving Iran.

She had previously been summoned to Branch 12 of the Culture and Media Courts on July 18, 2019. During these court hearings, Salehi was accused of “disturbing the public mind.” Later, on October 2, 2019, she was summoned and interrogated again to provide explanations for the charges against her.

Salehi said she had been summoned due to posts on her personal Instagram account in which she repeatedly criticized current problems in Iranian society, including embezzlement, the exchange rate to the US dollar, political prisoners, child abuse, rape, and the Caspian Sea Treaty of 2018.

But her first summoning and interrogation, on August 19, 2018, occurred after Salehi made critical remarks about current affairs in Iran. Salehi later published a video in which she protested against the summons and interrogation by judicial authorities. In the video she said: “The treatment was friendly and respectful, but a summons is ultimately a summons and it doesn't matter.”

Salehi added that the officers asked her: “Where do you get [this or that] phrase from? Who tells you to make these posts?' What does this post mean? You are blackmailing and harassing people and so on…”

Salehi added that the security and judicial officials told her: “When you talk about all of these problems, you make people upset. This is not in the best interest of the country or the current state of society.”

In her remarks, Salehi insisted that she is on the side of the people and that she is not a member of any party, group or faction, saying: “I am simply reflecting on what is happening and conveying the message of the people. If we speak out, we will be warned and threatened, and if we do not speak, we will become focused on our own selfish interests. So many times people have asked me ‘Why don't you go out into the streets to protest with them? If your address, phone, workplace and all your information can be tracked, generally you aren’t in danger.’”

In another portion of the statement, which was published by the Human Rights Activists News Agency, Salehi said, “I’m not afraid. Didn’t this also happen to Nasrin Sotoudeh and numerous others? It seems strange to me, why, in the midst of all this corruption, should I be summoned?”