TEHRAN: Iranian singer Shervin Hajjipour, arrested after his song in support of protests over the death of Mahsa Amini went viral, has been released on bail, an official said Tuesday.
A wave of unrest has rocked Iran since the 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman died on September 16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly failing to observe the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women.
The street violence has led to the deaths of dozens of people — mostly protesters but also members of the security forces — and hundreds of arrests.
“Shervin Hajji Aghapour has been released on bail so that his case can go through the legal process,” Mohammad Karimi, prosecutor of the northern province of Mazandaran told Iran’s state news agency IRNA.
Rights groups outside of Iran reported his arrest last week.
Hajjipour, a 25-year-old pop singer and songwriter, rose to fame for the song “Baraye,” “For,” in which he put together messages posted on Twitter about the reasons for protests.
The emotional performance became a viral hit on different social media platforms, with millions of views within days.
It is no longer available on his Instagram account, which currently has more than 1.7 million followers.
The song featured in many videos of protests on social media, and also made its way to local media.
The ultra-conservative Tasnim news agency published its own version of the video clip, keeping Hajjipour’s voice, while changing the accompanying images into ones showing the Islamic republic’s achievements.
The agency said that its video, posted Sunday on Telegram, is meant to show “more realistic concepts of what is happening in the media battlefield,” by using “more meaningful pictures.”
Tasnim on Tuesday said Hajjipour was arrested “for showing support for the rioters and solidarity with the enemies by posting the song in social media without getting permission for it.”