WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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Author: M.J. GDNUS
Popular Iranian singer Mehdi Jarahi, who posted a song online calling on women not to wear religious headscarves, has been flogged after being sentenced for possessing and consuming alcohol, his lawyer and authorities reported today.
Jarahi was flogged on Wednesday, according to his lawyer Zahra Minuei on the social media platform X. After being flogged, the singer posted on X: "He who is not ready to pay the price for freedom, does not deserve it."
The semi-official Iranian news agency Fars, citing an unnamed official, reported that the punishment was carried out due to the possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages, not because of his controversial song.
Jarahi had earlier written and performed the song *Rosarito*, which in Farsi means "Your Headscarf." The music video for this song encouraged women to remove their hijabs and featured women dancing without headscarves. It was believed that Jarahi's first arrest in August was connected to this video, which is still online.
In Iranian cities, it has become increasingly common to see women without the mandatory headscarf or hijab, especially after the second anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, who died after being arrested for having strands of hair visible under her headscarf. Her death sparked widespread protests.
In the ongoing crackdown on those protests, more than 500 people have been killed, and 22,000 have been detained.
Only Afghanistan and Iran legally require women to wear the hijab.
