Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Qom Provincial Criminal Court in Iran has sentenced 29-year-old singer Parastoo Ahmadi and eight members of her production team to 74 lashes each, along with a two-year travel ban and a two-year restriction on all artistic activities, following a livestreamed performance in December 2024 in which she appeared without a hijab. The ruling, which has drawn widespread international condemnation, was confirmed by court documents reviewed by human rights organisations and lawyers, though Iran’s official judiciary news agency had not published the decision as of Thursday, June 18, 2026.
The case stems from a 27-minute concert that Ahmadi livestreamed on her YouTube channel on December 11, 2024, from a historic caravanserai, featuring her performing the patriotic song “Az Khoone Javanane Vatan” (“From the Blood of the Youth of the Homeland”) without covering her head. The video, which showed the singer in a long black dress with bare shoulders and no hijab, accompanied by four musicians, went viral and garnered millions of views. The Islamic Republic of Iran generally prohibits women from recording albums and restricts them to performing only for female audiences without cameras or photography. Ahmadi and several musicians were briefly detained shortly after the video was released but were later freed. Authorities subsequently filed a formal case over the publication of what they described as “vulgar and immoral content.”
The court found the nine artists guilty of charges related to “offending public decency through the production and publication of obscene and immoral content on cyberspace platforms,” citing Articles 638 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, which criminalises behaviour considered an “open religious taboo,” and Article 743 of the Computer Crimes Law, which targets the promotion of content deemed “corrupt” or “morally offensive” when disseminated through digital platforms. The sentence has sparked outrage from human rights groups, with critics arguing that the punishment lacks any legal basis. Moein Khazaeli, a human rights lawyer affiliated with the Dadban Law Center, said, “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’.” He added that flogging raises serious concerns about Iran’s compliance with international obligations regarding the prohibition of torture and the protection of human dignity.
Bahar Ghandehari, advocacy director at the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, said: “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.” The decision has also drawn strong reactions from Iranian artists at home and abroad. Iranian-British actress Nazanin Boniadi described the sentence as evidence that the Islamic Republic’s machinery of repression remains unchanged. Iranian actress Setareh Maleki, who lives in exile after starring in the Oscar-nominated film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” said the performance had reignited her spirit of resistance. “Knowing the consequences she would face, she refused to give up her right to sing and be heard,” Maleki told the Guardian.
Ahmadi’s sentencing comes amid a broader crackdown on artists and cultural dissent in Iran, following similar punishments against other singers and women’s rights activists. In March 2025, singer Mehdi Yarrahi’s sentence of 74 lashes was carried out in connection with his song “Your Headscarf (Roosarito)” honouring the first anniversary of the Women, Life, Freedom uprising. The Islamic Republic has also faced widespread protests in recent years, including a deadly crackdown on demonstrations over the country’s failing economy in late December 2025, which quickly spread across the capital and evolved into a nationwide show of opposition against the ruling clerics.
In a statement posted on her Instagram page, Ahmadi confirmed the sentence, though she has not publicly commented further on the ruling. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency quoted a police official who said Ahmadi was summoned after her video was judged to go against social norms. The ruling has intensified debates over the Islamic Republic’s enforcement of mandatory hijab laws, which had been relaxed in early 2025 when authorities stopped actively enforcing the dress code, making it common to see women without head coverings on the streets of Tehran and other cities. However, the prosecution of Ahmadi signals that the judiciary continues to pursue harsh penalties against those who openly challenge the regime’s cultural and religious restrictions.
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