Overview
- Court documents reviewed by The Guardian and reported by other outlets say a Qom criminal court sentenced Parastoo Ahmadi and members of her production team to 74 lashes and two-year bans on leaving the country and on artistic work for producing and publishing what the court called “vulgar and immoral content” online.
- The reported sentence follows a 2024 livestreamed performance in which Ahmadi sang without a hijab and which drew millions of views and brief detentions of the singer and several musicians.
- Iran’s official judiciary has not published or confirmed the ruling and it is unclear whether the corporal punishment has been carried out, prompting lawyers and rights groups to lodge legal challenges and press for clarification.
- Human-rights lawyer Moein Khazaeli argues the sentence lacks a clear basis in Iranian criminal law because singing and producing music by women are not explicitly criminalized, and he says flogging raises serious international human-rights concerns.
- Rights groups view the case as part of a broader pattern of legal action against artists and women that uses physical punishment plus travel and work bans to deter public performances and cultural dissent, a move that could further chill artistic activity in Iran.