Iranian Singer Sentenced to Flogging and Professional Ban for Unveiled Performance
An Iranian court has sentenced singer Parastoo Ahmadi to 74 lashes after she performed a patriotic song without a hijab during a live YouTube broadcast in December 2024. The performance of the song, titled "Today in the Homeland," went viral on social media, prompting authorities to arrest Ahmadi and several of her colleagues shortly thereafter. Although they were initially released, the group subsequently faced trial in the city of Qom.
In addition to the physical punishment, the court imposed a two-year ban on the 29-year-old artist and prohibited her from leaving the country. Seven other members of her musical ensemble also received identical sentences of 74 lashes each, following the court’s classification of their performance as "obscene and immoral content."
The verdict has ignited widespread international condemnation, with human rights organizations and cultural activists characterizing the ruling as a blatant effort to suppress artistic expression and dissent. According to a report by The Guardian, high-profile figures including Iranian-British actress Nazanin Boniadi and exiled actress Setareh Maleki have joined the chorus of voices protesting the judicial action, which critics describe as part of a long-standing campaign by the Iranian state to intimidate independent artists.
Legal experts have questioned the legitimacy of the punishment, noting a lack of statutory justification for the ruling. Moein Khazaeili, a human rights lawyer associated with the activist support group Dadban, stated that there is no provision in the Iranian penal code that classifies the act of women singing or performing music as a criminal offense. Consequently, activists argue that labeling such artistic displays as "obscene" constitutes a clear misuse of the legal system to enforce moral codes.
The Center for Human Rights in Iran, a U.S.-based advocacy group, condemned the severity of the sentence. Bahar Ghandehari, the organization's advocacy director, described the lashing of an artist simply for singing while unveiled as a deeply disturbing indicator of the deteriorating human rights landscape within the country.
