The arrest comes in the wake of the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in custody and the following protests that shook Iranian society.
Last 28th of August, Mehdi Yarrahi was arrested for releasing a new piece of music. In the song, titled “Roosarito” (meaning ‘your headscarf ‘), the singer blasts the government’s hijab law and with the release the singer wanted to show support for his country’s women and their fight for equality.
Yarrahi was accused on two accounts, one for “publishing obscene and vulgar content” and “encouraging public to immorality and depravity,” and the other for “propaganda against the establishment.”
International human rights organisations have condemned the Iranian government for these actions taken against the artist and demanded his immediate release.
In the beginning of his career Yarrahi made anything but protest music, in fact he got famous for composing and singing for the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
But after seeing the injustice his people faced, from water shortages to air quality to bad living conditions, Yarrahi began shifting his creative work to address social issues in his country. For which he has since received much backlash and now official arrest.
