Iranian court upholds verdict against singer Parastoo Ahmadi — The National
An appeals court in Qom, Iran, has rejected an appeal by singer Parastoo Ahmadi and seven members of her team against sentences that include 74 lashes, a two-year ban on leaving the country and participating in artistic activities. The National reported this.
Appeal rejected
According to the BBC, Abbas Gharabaghi, the head of one of the appeals chambers, said that the evidence and arguments presented by the lawyers were insufficient. Another member of Ahmadi's team did not appeal their sentence.
In June 2026, the artists were sentenced to 74 lashes, as well as a two-year ban on travel and artistic activity. A court in Qom found them guilty of harming public morality by publishing vulgar and immoral content online.
Concert without an audience
The case was opened over Ahmadi's concert without an audience, which was streamed online in December 2024. In the video, viewed more than 3 million times on YouTube, the singer performs without a headscarf and sings solo.
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Iranian law requires women to wear hijab in public places. Iranian authorities have also banned women from singing solo since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Before the YouTube broadcast began, a statement was published on Ahmadi's YouTube page in which she called herself a girl who wants to sing for the people she loves.
Statements by human rights defenders
It is unknown when and where the flogging sentence may be carried out. The U.S.-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, which monitors human rights violations in Iran, called the punishment degrading and violent after the sentences were announced.
The volunteer lawyers' group Dadban said that the rejection of the appeal may indicate increased pressure on artistic and cultural activities in Iran. The group's statement said that singing, playing a musical instrument, taking photographs, or participating in the creation and distribution of a musical work do not in themselves constitute the production of obscene materials.
This week, Iran's judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei called on authorities to strengthen measures against violations of the mandatory hijab rule. He described non-compliance with this requirement as nudity and social anomalies.
