TEHRAN (dpa-AFX) – The singer Scherwin Hajipur, who was arrested in connection with the system-critical protests, has been released on bail. This was announced by the city of Sari in northern Iran on Tuesday. However, his case will continue to be investigated until his court date, the prosecutor said, according to the state news agency IRNA. Hajipur was arrested by the secret service last week. He was accused of supporting the protests in the country and inciting youth riots with the song “Baraye” (“For”). Demonstrators recently called for his immediate release.
The song “Baraye” received a lot of attention in Iran and made the 25-year-old singer famous nationwide overnight. In his song, he summarized the demands of the mainly young demonstrators musically. “For the longing for a normal life, for dancing in the streets, for kissing without fear, for rusty heads,” read parts of the socially critical song. After his arrest last week, the song was either sung or played at all demonstrations and gatherings. In the meantime, it has become the country’s protest anthem.
The system-critical protests continued on Tuesday night. Slogans against the Iranian leadership could be heard in several parts of the capital, Tehran. The increasing participation of schoolgirls in the protests was remarkable for observers. Although younger Iranians grew up in the Islamic Republic system, many of them are now demanding radical changes.
Statements by a Shia cleric on Tuesday caused outrage on social media. The women protesting against the headscarf ban “just want to walk around naked, sleep with someone else every night and live like animals,” said hardliner Hamid Rassaei, according to the Modara news portal.
The demonstrations were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in mid-September. The moral police had arrested her because of her allegedly “un-Islamic outfit”. What happened to Amini after that is unclear. The woman fell into a coma and died in a hospital on September 16. Critics accuse the morality police of using violence; the police deny it. Since the young woman’s death, thousands of people have been demonstrating across the country against the government and the conservative Islamic system./jbz/DP/stw