An Iranian court’s decision to uphold a sentence of 74 lashes against the popular singer Parastoo Ahmadi for performing without a hijab has sparked outrage among rights groups, who described it as “a form of torture”.
asserted
who → uphold → torture
In June, Ahmadi, 29, and eight members of her production team, including musicians, were sentenced by a court in the city of Qom over a concert that was streamed online in 2024, which went viral and racked up millions of views.
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which → include → views
The court said the group had violated the country’s “legal and cultural norms” and called the performance “obscene and vulgar”.
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group → say → performance
Under Iran’s “hijab and chastity” law – passed in 2024 but not yet officially implemented – women caught “promoting nudity, indecency, unveiling or improper dressing” face severe penalties, including fines, flogging and prison sentences ranging from five to 15 years for repeat offenders.
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women → pass → offenders
Lawyers say the verdict, announced last week, was not a surprise as the head of the Iranian judiciary had recently said the regime should not be afraid of the resulting “uproar” from a harsher crackdown on those not wearing the hijab.
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regime → say → hijab
Ahmadi and her production crew are expected to be punished with lashings within the next three months.
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Ahmadi → expect → months
Roya Boroumand, co-founder of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights, said: “This concert is treated as an act of defiance not only because a woman is singing unveiled, but because she is singing old pre-revolutionary popular songs.”
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she → say → songs
Moein Khazaeli, a human rights lawyer at Dadban, a legal counselling centre for Iranian activists based outside Iran, said: “The verdict is against humanity.
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verdict → base → humanity
Unfortunately, in the Islamic republic’s judicial system, applying torture is effectively legal.
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applying → apply → torture
It’s against human rights – a crime against humanity.”
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It → ’ → humanity
The harsh sentence of lashes imposed on Ahmadi has alarmed the musical community in Iran.
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sentence → impose → Iran
Leili, 36, a singer in Tehran, told the Guardian that she felt like a “coward” for “helplessly” watching fellow musicians pay the price for expressing themselves and doing what they loved.
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they → tell → what
According to Hengaw, a Norway-based group that covers human rights in Kurdistan and Iran, another singer, Hiwa Seyfizade, was also reportedly sentenced last month to four years in prison over a performance on charges of “promoting corruption and prostitution”.
uncertain
singer → accord → corruption
Despite years of arrests and prosecutions aimed at enforcing the law on mandatory hijabs, women continue to appear without headscarves in public.
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women → aim → public
Some Iranians attribute this change not to a relaxation of the regime’s policy, but to women continuing to defy the restrictions.
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Iranians → attribute → restrictions
Leili said: “What you are seeing on social media about women freely walking around is true, and I see fewer and fewer women wearing the hijab.
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I → say → hijab
But the regime has no contribution here; it’s us women who continue to push.
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who → have → contribution
We aren’t scared to go protest [against] this.”
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We → go → this
In what appears to be a renewed wave of protests against mandatory dress codes and worsening economic conditions, students at Allameh Tabataba’i University in Tehran demonstrated this week.
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students → appear → Tehran
Protesters chanted: “Exploitation, unemployment, compulsory hijab for women” and “Top academic rankings, but crumbling dormitories”.
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Protesters → chant → women
Calling for the sentences against Ahmadi and other musicians to be overturned, Skylar Thompson, the deputy director at the US-based organisation Human Rights Activists in Iran, said flogging was “an archaic and deliberate act of violence against a person’s body and dignity” and was being used on Ahmadi to “frighten other women into compliance”.
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flogging → call → compliance
The Aporia
