Pop singer Mehdi Yarrahi was eventually placed under house arrest for medical reasons

An Iranian court has changed the sentence to house arrest for pop singer Mehdi Yarrahi, who was convicted for a song criticizing the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women, his lawyer said. “Due to my client’s illness and the need for medical treatment, his one-year sentence was replaced with house arrest with the wearing of an electronic bracelet.” said lawyer Zahra Minouei in a message published on Sunday

“Sailing optional”

Mehdi Yarrahi, 42, was arrested in August 2023 after a song was broadcast that challenged the requirement for women to wear a veil in public. After being released on bail in October, he was detained again after being sentenced in January by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran to a total of two years and eight months in prison and 74 lashes, particularly on several charges “Disturbing public order”. Me Minouei then specified that the artist would have to serve one year in prison, the longest sentence, according to the principle of sentence accumulation under Iranian law.

The singer released the song Rousarito (“Your scarf,” in Persian) as the anniversary of the death approaches of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died in September 2022 after her arrest by moral police who accused her of violating the strict dress code for women. Mehdi Yarrahi broadcast the song and its three-minute clip in favor of “optional veil”, He dedicates it to the “courageous Iranian women” who took part in the 2022 protest movement. In his concerts he has repeatedly criticized the authorities, particularly for discrimination against the residents of his home province of Khuzestan.