Iranians Sing Grammy-Winning Protest Song From Rooftops

Iran Human Rights group in a tweet immediately on Sunday announced that the amnesty claim is a “deceitful” step by Khamenei, demanding that all protesters should be freed “unconditionally”, and instead those responsible for repression should be tried in courts.

Protesters were exercising their right to peacefully demonstrate and arresting them had no legal bases, Iran Human Rights said.

Government media reported Sunday that Khamenei had “agreed” with a proposal by the country’s Judiciary to free those who were “misled” and took part in protests.

It is still not clear how many or which prisoners will be pardoned and whose sentences will be reduced. While thousands of young and teenage protesters were arrested in street demonstrations, hundreds of political activists, journalists and writers or artists have also been detained.

Khamenei’s move came days before the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Republic, as a move to rescue the regime’s image amid a grim economic crisis and mass public rejection of the political system he presides over.

The hardliner judiciary has attached so many pre-conditions for any prisoner pardon, that no one knows how many will be freed, while some state media claimed “tens of thousands” will be released.

Some of the conditions for being pardoned were mentioned in the announcement, including no record of spying for a foreign country, no connection with foreign intelligence services, not facing a charge of murder and no accusation of destroying public property. The regime’s security forces and courts, meanwhile, have held thousands of detainees exactly based on these sorts of charges.

A lawyer defending several detained protesters tweeted that Khamenei’s move was nothing more than “imposing the fake version of reality by the regime,” which attempts to switch the guilt from itself to the victims.

Almost all court proceedings have been held behind closed doors, after many detainees were tortured to confess to trumped-up charges. Also, in most cases defendants were not allowed to have their lawyers in the court or even have access to case files.

A former political prisoner Hossein Qashqai tweeted, “It is us who should issue pardons, not you, who carry the blood of our dearest and best children on your hands. We will never forget and forgive.”

Prison interrogators often demand that detainees to sign self-incriminating apologies and pledge not to engage in antigovernment activities. Shahriar Shams, a former prisoner, quoted one his friends who is still behind bars that if the authorities free them unconditionally, it would be fine, but if they demand any letter of remorse “we will not give them anything. We should be the ones to pardon them.”

A Dutch member of the European Parliament tweeted Monday that “Freedom shouldn’t depend on a dictator’s whims. This is hypocrisy and we won’t be fooled.”

European countries have exhibited tough reactions, compared to the past, to Islamic Republic’s bloody suppression and the hanging of four protesters after sham trials. The European Parliament last month passed a resolution demanding Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to be listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union.

Some Iranian conservative supporters of Khamenei have been surprised by the international backlash and admit that the regime is now more isolated. But Khamenei seems to be determined to make no real concession. In one of his recent speeches he said, “In the old days when wounds did not heal, they cauterized them.”

Thijs Reuten said in a tweet Monday that “freedom should not depend on the whims of a dictator. This is hypocrisy and we will not be fooled.”

He further called on the dictatorial ruler of Iran to release all protesters and stop executions immediately.

Reuten also addressed the European Union, urging them to sanction Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi and blacklist the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group.

He also demanded the EU to show support for Iran’s democratic opposition.

Ali Khamenei on Sunday agreed to pardon some prisoners and reduce sentences for those arrested during antigovernment protests in recent months.

The proposal was made by the country’s Judiciary to take what appears to be a political step to show clemency after hundreds were killed and around 19,000 arrested.

It is not clear how many or which prisoners will be pardoned and whose sentences will be reduced. While thousands of young and teenage protesters were arrested in street demonstrations, hundreds of political activists, journalists and writers or artists have also been detained.

Khamenei's move comes at the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Republic, as a move to rescue the image of the regime amid a grim economic crisis and mass public rejection of the political system he presides over.

In an exclusive interview with Russia Today, Jamileh Alamolhoda blamed the US for the protests that have swept the country for almost five months, saying that “Washington is trying to show a false image of Iran and Russia in the world and instill fear.”

"What you describe as a tragedy that had a wide repercussion in the world is nothing but a new version of the intimidating narrative that US uses against Iran,” she claimed.

She went on to say that “Washington wants to tell us I can bring the terrorists to your streets and set cars on fire. It wants us to surrender and as a result present a distorted picture of Iran to the world.”

Iranian officials label protesters as “rioters” and in some cases as “terrorists.”

She also added that Russia is having a similar experience with the US as “Washington tries to present a distorted image of Russia to the whole world.”

They want to make our neighbors and the international community afraid so that they can sell more arms, she alleged.

Jamileh-Sadat Alamolhoda is the daughter of hardliner Friday prayer Imam of the religious city of Mashhad, Ahmad Alamolhoda.

Her comments come as the Iranian regime has been intimidating the protesters by using force, live rounds and executing detainees.

Over 500 people have been killed by the clerical rulers so far.

Before its award for Best Song for Social Change at the Grammys 2023, a new category at the gala, Shervin’s creation had touched millions of Iranians who are protesting against the Islamic Republic for about five months now. The single had also become a viral sensation even among non-Persian-speaking music fans who were in support of the protests.

Lauding the track, Jill Biden added that the new award was put in place to recognize a tune that “responds to the social issues of our time and has the potential for positive global impact," and said she was "honored" to announce the first winner in the category. She also noted that more than 130,000 people sent their submissions for the song.

According to Variety in October, 95,000 of the submissions were made for Hajipour’s song. Describing the song as "stirring," Biden said, “This song became the anthem of the Mahsa Amini protests, a powerful and poetic poem for freedom and women’s rights."

The song, which was released in the early days of protests ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini in 'hijab police' custody, was viewed more than 40 million times in two days on Shervin’s Instagram account, and has since become the unofficial anthem of the women-led uprising. It soon became one of the most covered songs by professional singers such as Rana Mansour and a myriad of amateur Iranians. In October, British indie band Coldplay also made headlines after the group invited Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani to perform the song onstage with them in Buenos Aires.

The word ‘baraye,’ which is translated from Persian as “for …” or “for the sake of”, is repeated at the start of every line of the song, which is composed of a collection of tweets by Iranians bemoaning the situation in their country: “For dancing in the streets; for the fear of kissing; for the students and their future”, and “for women, life, freedom”.

After the impactful song went viral and rocked social media, Shervin was arrested by the regime’s agents and the song was removed from his page. He was released on bail in October after he published a forced confession and an apology on his Instagram page. His case is still going through the 'legal' process, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Hajipour, who had gained relative popularity in 2019 when he appeared as a contestant in the Iranian television talent show, New Era, now is among the favorite singers of the Iranian protests, along with rap artists Toomaj Salehi and Saman Seydi, whose stage name is Yasin.

After winning the Grammy, Hajipour simply wrote on Instagram, "We won." However, a large number of Iranians from all around the world congratulated him for the award, calling it a triumph for the antigovernment protests. Another Iranian Grammy award winner Kayhan Kalhor‌ posted a story and wished success for Hajipour while German member of European Parliament, Hannah Neumann, tweeted “Beyoncé may have won 32 Grammys -- but this one surely is the most important one this year.”

Women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad said that “Once, if we were killed on streets, or hanged, no one would hear us. But now, our cry of protest, our music and art, has crossed the borders of the world.”

Canada-based activist Hamed Esmaeilion who has so far organized several rounds of worldwide protest rallies against the Islamic Republic, also posted to mark Hajipour’s victory and paid a tribute to all the artists that were killed by the Islamic Republic.

A video on social media shows that the doctor refuses to attend the pro-Hijab woman saying this is his private office and he cannot tolerate such moves.

Fars News Agency which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard reported Monday that the doctor has been summoned and indicted while his office has been sealed.

Despite nationwide protests in the past few months following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the ‘morality police,’ the judicial and law enforcement agencies of the clerical regime continue to strictly follow the observance of the "mandatory hijab".

On January 16, the commander of the Bushehr police force in the south announced that several girls with “improper hijab” had been arrested on the charge of “assaulting a veiled lady”.

The arrest came after a video showed the girls quarrelling with a woman who was warning them about mandatory hijab in the street.

In the last few weeks, numerous reports have been published about police sealing off businesses, restaurants, cafes and even in some cases pharmacies for not observing the mandatory hijab rules by employees.

The Islamic Republic has increased pressure on women for non-compliance with the mandatory hijab in a situation that the country has been the scene of nationwide protests since September 16.