Iranian musician reportedly sentenced to 74 lashes for singing without hijab

An Iranian musician has reportedly been sentenced to 74 lashings for singing without a hijab during a concert live-streamed on YouTube.

Parastoo Ahmadi sang the patriotic song 'Az Khoone Vatan', which translates to 'From the Blood of the Youth of the Homeland', in December 2024.

The performance, which has been viewed millions of times, was live streamed on Ahmadi’s YouTube channel.

According to court documents seen by The Guardian, the criminal court of Qom province has now sentenced Ahmadi and eight members of a production team, including musicians, to flogging.

They have also been given a two-year ban on leaving the country and a two-year ban on taking part in artistic activities on charges that include offending public decency and the production and publication of ‘vulnerable and immoral content’ online, the Guardian reports.

Even though the court’s official news outlet hasn’t released the judgment yet, human rights organisations and lawyers who have seen the documents say the numerous arrests and prosecutions of artists who openly oppose the regime suggest a wider attempt to discourage cultural opposition.

The performance has been viewed millions of times (YouTube/@ParastooAhmadii)

Following the December 2024 performance, Ahmadi was detained in Iran briefly along with several musicians but she was released shortly after. However, authorities later filed a formal case over the publication of the viral video.

“Ahmadi’s punishment of 74 lashes for merely singing and appearing without a hijab is yet another reminder that human rights conditions in Iran have not changed, despite the Iranian authorities’ wartime propaganda campaign aimed at improving their image,” Bahar Ghandehari, the director of advocacy at the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, told the publication.

“Singing, performing music and producing or disseminating musical works by women are not criminalised under Iranian criminal law. Consequently, such activities cannot reasonably be construed as the ‘production, distribution or publication of obscene content’,” said Moein Khazaeli, human rights lawyer at Dadban, an Iranian legal counselling centre for activists.

Ahmadi was detained in Iran briefly along with several musicians (YouTube/@ParastooAhmadii)

Furthermore, Khazaeli told the outlet that flogging sentences on artists or other citizens is not only a domestic legal issue.

It also raises serious concerns under international obligations to ‘prohibit torture’ and ‘safeguard human dignity’. He added that many human rights organisations regard flogging as a form of ‘torture and inhumane treatment’ rather than a legitimate form of punishment.

Amnesty International says other singers and women’s rights activists have been subject to similar punishments in the country, such as flogging and arbitrary detention.

Iran’s compulsory veiling laws, which apply to girls from the age of seven, are said to violate multiple human rights, including equality, freedom of expression, religion or belief, privacy, non-discrimination, and bodily autonomy. The organisation added that the laws cause severe pain and suffering that may amount to torture or other ill-treatment.