Iran Singer Lash Sentence
Iran Court Upholds Singer Parastoo Ahmadi’s 74-Lash Sentence Over Unlawful Online Performance
Anonymous
An Iranian appeals court has upheld singer Parastoo Ahmadi’s sentence of 74 lashes, a two-year ban on audiovisual and artistic work, and a two-year travel ban over an online performance in which she sang without a hijab alongside male musicians. The video, filmed at a historic caravanserai in Qom province and posted in December 2024, defied Iran’s restrictions on women’s dress and public singing. The ruling also applies to musicians and production-team members involved in the performance, and the court rejected the defendants’ appeals, making the sentence final and enforceable. The case has renewed scrutiny of Iran’s restrictions on women performers and the penalties imposed for challenging them.
Key Points
1
Ahmadi described the roughly 27-minute video as an “imaginary concert”; it was uploaded to YouTube on December 11, 2024, and reportedly drew millions of viewers, despite YouTube being restricted inside Iran.
2
The court characterized the performance and its online publication as violating “public decency” through the production and distribution of “obscene and immoral content.” The cited legal provisions, Articles 638 and 743 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, address open religious taboos and alleged offenses against public morality, including online.
3
The defense argued that the performance was an artistic work and that the defendants lacked criminal intent, but the appeals court rejected their objections.
4
The ruling names musicians Ehsan Beiraqdar and Soheil Faqih Nasiri among those convicted, along with six production-team members.
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