A 29-year-old Iranian singer has been sentenced to 74 lashes and barred from performing for two years after appearing in an online concert without a hijab.
According to Gateway Pundit, Parastoo Ahmadis case underscores the hardline the Islamic Republic continues to take against women who defy compulsory veiling laws, even as the regime faces growing internal dissent. Parastoo was seen singing on YouTube in 2024 without a hijab and with her arms exposed, an act the theocratic authorities deemed an illegal display that had to be punished severely.
Now, instead of celebrating artistic talent, the regime has chosen to make an example of her. Irans judiciary opened a case against Ahmadi after the performance went viral, with millions of views, claiming the concert was in violation of the countrys legal and cultural regulations.
In June, a criminal court in Qom reportedly convicted Ahmadi and eight members of her band and production team on charges including offending public decency through the publication of obscene and indecent material. Along with the 74 lashes, the court banned all of them from audiovisual activities and from leaving Iran for two years, effectively silencing their careers and restricting their basic freedom of movement.
In September, their appeal was rejected by a higher court without a hearing, according to their lawyers, a move that highlights the absence of due process under the regimes so-called justice system. In our view, holding the concert was not a crime at all, one of the lawyers told the BBC.
The trial court imposed one of the harshest punishments for these charges, although fines and less severe penalties were also available. This is the same barbaric regime that slaughters its own kids in the street and beats women bloody for walking in public without their hair covered, and the same dictatorship that gunned down Neda and other innocent protestersgrim reminders of what happens when unchecked authoritarian power tramples basic human liberty.
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