Iran Arrests Singer Whose Song Became Anthem Of Ongoing Protests
Radio Farda-Sept 30th 2022
Iranian singer Shervin Hajipour risked arrest when he recently posted a song on Instagram about the anti-government protests raging across the country.
Those fears were realized on September 29, when the young artist was arrested by police officers in Tehran, RFE/RL’s Radio Farda has learned. His current whereabouts remain unknown. It is also unclear what, if any, charges were brought against him.
Before it was removed from the social media platform on the same day, Hajipour’s song had garnered more than 40 million views.
His moving song is based on the outpouring of public anger following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody on September 16. Her death has triggered more than two weeks of daily protests in the country.
The protests have provoked a deadly state crackdown, with law enforcement and security forces killing scores of demonstrators and detaining hundreds of others, according to human rights groups.
Amini was detained by Iran’s morality police on September 13 for allegedly violating the country’s hijab law. Three days later, she was declared dead in a hospital. Activists and relatives say she was killed as a result of blows to the head sustained in detention. The authorities claim she died of a heart attack.
Since her death, Amini’s name has become a rallying cry against decades of state discrimination and violence.
Hajipour’s song is composed of tweets by Iranians following Amini’s death. Many of the tweets blame the country’s social, economic, and political ills on the country’s clerical regime.
“For the shame of having no money,” reads one of the tweets in Hajipour’s song.
“For the fear of kissing a lover on the street,” says another tweet.
“For the political prisoners,” adds a tweet.