Iranian pop singer Shervin Hajipour appeared in a video on Sunday for the first time since his release after being arrested for posting a song in support of the protests that have rocked Iran since mid-September.
Iran has been the scene of protests since the death on September 16 of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, after she was arrested in Tehran by deputy police who accused her of violating Iran’s strict dress code, which in particular forces women to cover their hair in public.
To support the protest movement, 25-year-old Shervin Hajipour composed a song called “Baraye” (“For” or “For” in Persian), compiling tweets about protesters’ demands. The song had reached nearly 40 million views on the artist’s Instagram page, before being removed when the singer was arrested by authorities in the north of the country.
“Stay and sing” in Iran
In a first video appearance since being released on bail on Tuesday, Shervin Hajipour said Sunday that he “lives in Iran” and wants to “stay there and sing.” “If I want to say something, or criticize, I would like to do it here,” he added in this video uploaded to Instagram.
“It is clear that I created this work to express my solidarity with people who criticized the situation of society” in Iran, he added, specifying that he had no connection “with any movement or organization” abroad.
“I would like to see that the authorities, especially in these conditions, have a father-son approach towards people who are in situations similar to mine,” added the singer, without further details.
Dozens of deaths since the start of the protests
Shervin Hajipour began his musical career after participating in 2019 in the program Asré Jadid (“new era” in Persian), a singing competition broadcast on Iranian state television.
Dozens of people, mainly protesters but also members of the security forces, have been killed since September 16 during demonstrations described as “riots” by the authorities, while hundreds more have been arrested.
Source: BFM TV
