Six Iranians get suspended lashes and jail sentences after miming to Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ song

Six Iranians arrested for appearing in a video singing along to the American pop song “Happy” have been given suspended sentences of 91 lashes and six months in prison for obscene behavior. Another defendant who faced “heavier charges” in relation to the video was handed a suspended sentence of one year in jail and 91 lashes by the authorities on Wednesday, the Iran Wire site quoted defence lawyer Farshid Rofugaran as saying. He said the verdicts had not been officially communicated to him and so he could not be completely sure about the information.

The way to deal with cultural issues is cultural work, not policemen and (detention) vans and strong-arm tactics.

President Hassan Rouhani

The defendants, four men and three women, were detained by police in May after six of them were shown lip synching to Pharrell Williams’ song. The women appearing in the clip were bare-headed in violation of the Islamic dress code enforced after the 1979 Islamic revolution. Rofugaran said the suspended jail term was the punishment for acting in the video and the lashes were for ignoring Islamic norms. The arrests drew condemnation from the U.S. singer and his fans through social media, as well as indirect criticism from President Hassan Rouhani.

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