Tehran: The inhumane sentence of flogging carried out against dissident artist Mehdi Yarrahi

Hengaw: Wednesday, March 5, 2025

The inhumane sentence of 74 lashes against Mehdi Yarrahi, a dissident artist and singer, was carried out at Branch 4 of the Sentence Execution Office of Tehran's Moral Security Prosecutor’s Office.

According to a report received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, the flogging sentence of Mehdi Yarahi, an artist from Ahwaz residing in Tehran, was carried out at Branch 4 of the Sentence Enforcement Office of Tehran's Moral Security Prosecutor’s Office.

Zahra Minouei, Mr. Yarahi’s lawyer, wrote in a post on her "X" account: "Today, 15 Esfand 1403, the final part of the sentences issued by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court—consisting of 74 lashes—was fully executed at Branch 4 of the Sentence Execution Office of Tehran’s Moral Security Prosecutor’s Office, and Mr. Mehdi Yarahi’s case was closed."

In December 2024, Mehdi Yarahi’s one-year prison sentence, which had previously been commuted to electronic monitoring with an ankle bracelet, came to an end. He was released on bail of 15 billion tomans, conditional on the execution of the flogging sentence.

In October 2023, Branch 26 of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, sentenced him to two years and eight months of imprisonment and 74 lashes.

Mehdi Yarrahi was arrested on August 28, 2023, following the release of his song "Remove Your Scarf" on the orders of the Tehran Prosecutor. He was temporarily released from Evin Prison on bail in late October of the same year.

It is worth noting that this artist from Ahwaz had previously been banned from financial transactions by the Tehran Public Prosecutor’s Office due to his support for the Jin, Jiyan, Azadi (Woman, Life, Freedom) movement.