Judiciary Cracks Down on Street Musicians; Instagram Pages of At Least Three Singers Blocked

The judiciary of the Islamic Republic has taken action against a number of street singers and musicians in Iran, blocking their accounts on the social media network Instagram.

This morning, Thursday, the second day of Khordad month, the Instagram pages of several Iranian singers and musicians were closed. On these pages, messages appeared stating that the Instagram accounts of these individuals have been “seized by judicial order.”

According to the message, the reason for blocking these pages was “publishing criminal content” and “those involved in the crimes subject to the case file” are also under judicial prosecution.

Mehrdad Mehdi, Asu Kohzadi, and Naghmeh Moradabadi are among the street singers and musicians whose Instagram pages have been blocked.

According to reports, some of these individuals have also been summoned for “further clarification.”

In recent days, following the release of a video of “Negar Moazzam,” a Shiraz-based artist, singing during a tourist tour in Abyaneh village, the Public Prosecution and Islamic Revolution Office of Natanz announced that the artist had been summoned to judicial authorities.

Iran’s Feta Police (Police of Production and Information Exchange Space) has repeatedly closed the pages of Iranian users, summoned them, and in some cases arrested them in recent years.

Artists, photographers, dancers, and people active in fashion are among the groups whose Instagram pages have been blocked in recent years and in some cases have been summoned to judicial authorities.

Source: Voice of America