Members of an all-women musical band in Kermanshah were arrested and summoned over the past days.
On Saturday, January 16, 2021, two members of Glaris all-women musical band were summoned to the Intelligence Police of the State Security Force of Kermanshah. Nazanin Atabaki and Nasrin Yazdanipour, solo singers of the musical band, were interrogated by the police. Subsequently, they were temporarily released on bail until their prosecution is finalized.
The state-run media published the news on Sunday, January 17, without mentioning the name of the all-women musical band and its arrested members. But they said that the two women had been detained for “abnormal” behavior.
In announcing the news, Hassan Heydari, the head of the Intelligence Police of Kermanshah, said, “The police will deal decisively with all forms of abnormal and unconventional behavior.”
An informed source said two members of Glaris musical band had performed in a video advertisement for a furniture store.
Upon the request of a furniture store, several women embarked on production of this video clip and published it on social media. Subsequently, the intelligence police of Kermanshah identified all those engaged in this production. They arrested and detained all the women who had sung in this clip, the owner of the furniture store and the head of the advertisement unit which produced the video clip. The Cyber Police (FATA) also blocked all the pages which had posted this video clip. (The state-run khabaronline.ir – January 17, 2021)
Members of Glaris musical band in Kermanshah, including Nazanin Atabaki, Samira Farahnaki, Maliheh Moradi, Nasrin Yazdanipour and Elham Yazdanipour have been summoned several times over the past days. They were compelled to sign written pledges not to participate in production of such video clips.
Marjan Karamjani, another member of this musical band was banned from her artistic activities in 2019.
The all-women Glaris musical band was founded in Kermanshah in 2017. It is active in performing folklore and traditional Kurdish music.
Under the misogynous laws of the clerical regime, women are censored and banned from singing. In the initial years of the mullahs’ rule, all female singers and performers were forced to stay home.
