The death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iranian morals police in 2022 inspired protests around the world where a Grammy-winning anthem written by Iran’s Shervin Hajipour was sung. Hajipour was sentenced to prison this week in connection with the song. File Photo by Tino Romano/EPA-EFE
Grammy-winning Iranian musician Shervin Hajipour has been sentenced to more than three years in prison in connection with a song he wrote that became the anthem for anti-regime protests in 2022.
As part of the three-year, eight-month prison sentence handed down Friday, Hajipour, 26, must also write a song about U.S. “atrocities against humanity,” according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Advertisement
The artist revealed the sentence in a post in Farsi on his Instagram account, where he also thanked his legal team and management.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court convicted him of “inciting unrest against national security,” and “spreading propaganda against the regime,” the activists said.
He was also handed a two-year travel ban as part of the sentence and must use his platforms to “promote the achievements” of the Islamic Revolution.
Hajipour wrote and recorded the song Baraye in 2022, only a month after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, was killed in police custody in Tehran. Amini was arrested by the country’s morality police for opposing mandatory hijab rules.
Amini’s death sparked protests across Iran, and Baraye, which means “For” in Farsi, became the rallying cry for many. Advertisement
Hajipour later won the Grammy for Best Song for Social Change for the composition.
He was initially arrested Sept. 29, 2022, for violating Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code by releasing “propaganda against the system” and “inciting people to violent acts,” but was released on bail in October.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Hajipour would serve any part of the custodial portion of his sentence in Iran’s notorious Evin prison.
The New York-based nonprofit organization PEN America called for his immediate release and the sentence to be quashed.
“Shervin Hajipour’s sentencing is another awful attempt to suppress the independent voices who channel the demands of the Iranian people for basic freedoms. The Iranian government is attempting to silence a powerful movement spearheaded by musicians who believe in freedom and women’s rights,” Artists at Risk Connection director Julie Trébault said in a statement.
“The Iranian government fears the power of music to give hope and inspire citizens to dream of a better and more equitable future for all,” she said.
