Iranian Artist Sentenced to 74 Lashes for Singing Without Hijab
An Iranian singer, Parastoo Ahmadi, has reportedly been sentenced to 74 lashes by a court in Qom Province for performing without a hijab during an online concert broadcast via YouTube. The ruling has sparked condemnation from human rights groups and the international arts community.
The case originated from a virtual concert held by Ahmadi in December 2024. In the performance, which subsequently went viral, the 29-year-old singer performed the patriotic song “Az Khoon-e Javanan-e Vatan” (From the Blood of the Youth of the Homeland) without wearing a hijab. The concert video was viewed millions of times on YouTube and attracted widespread attention both inside and outside Iran.
According to human rights activists, the provincial criminal court in Qom handed down the lashing sentence to Ahmadi and several other musicians. They were also banned from leaving the country for two years and prohibited from engaging in artistic work for two years. The verdict has not yet been published by the official judiciary news agency. However, court documents seen by lawyers and human rights groups reportedly state that the charges included violating public decency through the production and publication of “vulgar and immoral content” online.
Human rights activists say Ahmadi’s punishment is proof that the situation in Iran has not changed. Bahar Ghandehari, advocacy director at the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, said Ahmadi’s sentence of 74 lashes is another reminder that human rights conditions in Iran remain unchanged, despite wartime propaganda campaigns by the Iranian government aimed at improving their image. She added that the contrast between the official image and the prosecution of artists reveals the gap between the regime’s propaganda and reality.
The verdict against Parastoo Ahmadi has now become a global spotlight and reignited debate over freedom of expression, women’s rights, and the Iranian government’s treatment of artists who defy state rules. Fatemeh Shams, a professor of Persian Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, also spoke out.
“If you call this blatant violence by any name other than ‘crimes against humanity’; if, amidst such a tangible and undeniable battle against women, you speak of ‘peace’ but fail to hear the voices of the victims; if you pit ‘national interests’ against freedom, justice, human dignity, and the right to life; and if you call yourself ‘anti-war’ but remain silent in the face of the war that rages daily against women, girls, and political prisoners, then you are not staying true to either truth or justice,” Shams wrote on her X account some time ago.
Shams added that peace is not merely the subsiding sound of missiles or the fire of bombardment. Peace only has meaning when the bodies of innocent women and protesters are no longer a field of uncontrolled violence; when the whip, torture, and the noose are no longer tools of governance.
“True and lasting peace is only possible when no woman is branded a criminal for working, studying, singing, or choosing her own lifestyle; and when no innocent human being is locked in a dark prison cell and gallows for the crime of demonstrating, demanding justice, or expressing an opinion,” she stated.