Iran: An Iranian singer who performed at an online concert without wearing a hijab in defiance of the strict dress code of the Islamic Republic faces prosecution after the country’s judiciary took notice of the “violation of legal and religious standards” by her.
Parastoo Ahmadi streamed the concert on her YouTube channel late Wednesday. In it, she is without a headscarf and is bare-shouldered in a long, flowing black dress.
The concert, shot in Iran, was held without audience and with Ahmadi and her four-man backing crew playing outside a stage in the grounds of a traditional caravanserai complex.
A message on Ahmadi’s YouTube video of before the start of the concert says, “I am Parastoo, the girl who cannot remain silent and who refuses to stop singing for the country she loves. Listen to my voice in the imaginary concert and dream of a free and beautiful nation.”
One of her songs was an apparent reference to the the nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody of Iran’s notorious morality police.
Meanwhile, the Mizan Online news website of the Iranian judiciary said the judiciary has “intervened and taken appropriate action, with a legal case filed against the singer and her production staff.”
Rules imposed after the 1979 Islamic revolution require Iranian women to cover their hair in public. Also, they are not allowed to sing in public.
