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Mehdi Yarrahi, a well-known Iranian protest singer who spoke out against the country’s strict dress code for women, has been given 74 lashes as part of an agreement to end a criminal case against him.
Yarrahi was initially convicted in January 2024 of acting unlawfully by releasing a protest song in September 2023 entitled Your Headscarf (Roo Sarito) on the first anniversary of the “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising.
He had also composed songs during the uprising, and has more than 1 million followers on Instagram.
Yarrahi’s one-year prison sentence was later converted to electronic ankle monitoring, which ended in December, leading to his release. However, the return of his 15bn toman bail, paid by a third party, was dependent on his flogging, which was carried out this week.
At the time, Yarrahi wrote on X: “I am ready to receive the sentence of 74 lashes, and while I condemn this inhuman torture, I make no request to cancel it.”
The news of the lashes was shared on Wednesday by Zahra Minouei, the singer’s lawyer.
Minouei wrote on X on Wednesday that the last part of the sentences issued by the Tehran revolutionary court had been administered.
Yarahi wrote on Instagram: “You have brought glass to break our stone. Thank you for your constant support, dear ones, and the sincere companionship of the respected lawyers Mustafa Nili and Zahra Minoui. He who is not willing to pay for Bahá’í freedom does not deserve freedom. Wishing you freedom.”
News of the medieval-style flogging caused widespread outrage on Iranian social media.
Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi wrote on Instagram: “The execution of Mehdi Yarrahi’s flogging sentence is revenge for his support for the women of Iran. The flogging on Mehdi’s body is a whip on the proud, resistant women of Iran and the flourishing and powerful soul of the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ movement.”
Masih Alinejad, a well-known US-based human rights campaigner, said: “For every lash they strike, more women will take off their scarves. More voices will rise. And nothing will stop this revolution. To the west: negotiating human rights with barbarians won’t save you. This regime is a virus, it will spread if you let it.”
In 2024 at least 131 individuals were sentenced to a combined 9,957 lashes by the Iranian judiciary, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, an Iranian NGO.
