Iranian singer Shervin Hajipour was sentenced to prison for his Mahsa Amini protest anthem. He has reportedly been pardoned, after the two year anniversary of Amini’s death last week.
An Iranian Grammy Award winner said on Monday he was pardoned from serving a three-year sentence over his song that became an anthem to to the 2022 protests that rocked the country following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Shervin Hajipour, who was presented his Grammy in 2023 by US first lady Jill Biden, uploaded a video story on Instagram, looking overcome with emotion and saying: “A new order had been issued regarding amnesty, and it included my case which has been completely dismissed, adding he learned about the case dismissal on Sunday.
Two months ago, Hajipour announced that he was ordered to head to prison to serve a sentence of three years and eight months which a court handed him in March. He had already served some prison time but was out on bail in 2023 pending the court’s decision.
His song, ‘Baraye’, or ‘For’ in English, begins with: “For dancing in the streets,” “for the fear we feel when we kiss.” The lyrics list reasons that young Iranians posted online for why they had protested against Iran’s ruling theocracy after the death of Amini.
Biden awarded Hajipour the Grammy’s new song for social change special merit award during the ceremony last year and stated: “This song became the anthem of the Mahsa Amini protests, a powerful and poetic call for freedom and women’s rights. Shervin was arrested, but this song continues to resonate around the world with its powerful theme: Women, life, freedom.”
The protests quickly escalated into calls to overthrow Iran’s clerical rulers. A subsequent security crackdown killed more than 500 people, with more than 22,000 detained.
On Friday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pardoned and commuted the sentences of 2,887 prisoners. It is unclear whether Hajipour’s case was part of the amnesty order.
Last week was the two year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, who was detained for allegedly violating the dress code for women. Protests continue, even if currently limited and methodically crushed by the government. 34 female political prisoners went on hunger strike in Teheran’s Evin Prison to mark the tragic anniversary.
Two years after the death of Amini, two Iranian films which dare to defy state censorship and expose the crimes of the Islamic State have begun their European rollouts in cinemas. They remind us how fortunate we are to have filmmakers who dare to challenge oppression, misogyny and tyranny. Read more about them here.
