Iranian authorities arrested a singer on Saturday who performed during a virtual concert on YouTube without wearing the veil. Parastoo Ahmady, 27, was arrested in Sari, capital of the northern province of Mazandaran, according to Iranian lawyer Milad Panahipour. Justice opened an investigation Thursday into Ahmady's concert, in which she appeared dressed in a long black dress without sleeves or collar, without hijab, accompanied by four male musicians. The day before, the artist had published her performance on YouTube with this message: “I am Parastoo, a girl who wants to sing for the people I love. It's a right that I could not ignore; to sing for the earth whom I love passionately.” The online concert has been viewed more than 1.4 million times.
“Unfortunately, we do not know the charges against Ms. Ahmady, nor who arrested her, nor her whereabouts, but we will follow up the case with the judicial authorities,” her lawyer told the Associated Press. He also revealed that two musicians from his band, Soheil Faghih Nasiri and Ehsan Beiraghdar, were arrested in Tehran on the same day.
Since the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, women were first banned from singing altogether, then only allowed to perform in choirs in front of mixed audiences. They can now sing in a room, but only in front of an exclusively female audience. According to Iranian and Islamic law, women are not allowed to appear without a hijab in front of men who are not their relatives.
The arrest comes as authorities appear to be once again hardening their stance on the Islamic dress code, after a period of relative tolerance following the 2022 protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.
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