74 lashes for a song: is Iran's sentence on singer Parastoo Ahmadi justice or torture?

Published Jun 20, 2026 · 12:00 GMT

A court in Qom sentenced singer Parastoo Ahmadi and eight collaborators to 74 lashes, a two-year travel ban, and a ban on artistic activity, for a 2024 YouTube concert performed without hijab. Rights groups call it cultural repression and torture; Iranian authorities say it is routine enforcement of public morality law under the Islamic Penal Code.

The summary above is a neutral framing. Below, each side reports the same story in its own words — judge for yourself.

Rights groups / artists

Amnesty International and RFE/RL frame the ruling as cultural repression — 74 lashes, a two-year ban on performing, and a travel ban — for singing a well-known patriotic anthem at an empty theatre with eight crew members. 'This is torture,' Ahmadi's lawyer said.

Iranian courts

Iran's Qom Provincial Criminal Court convicted Ahmadi under Article 638 of the Islamic Penal Code — which criminalises 'open religious taboo' and acts offending public decency — alongside Article 743, which bans producing 'vulgar and immoral content' online. Authorities frame the verdict as a routine legal ruling, not political targeting.

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