Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
RFL/RE – Iranian authorities have imprisoned two prominent figures from Tabriz and opened a case against another, a well-known actor and presenter, for their activism.
Milad Jalili, a rapper and singer, and Salar Taherafshar, a civil activist, both from the northwestern city of Tabriz, have been transferred to prison to commence sentences handed down earlier. They were out on bail before being summoned by authorities and subsequently detained and sent to prison.
Jalili, known artistically as “Ilshan,” was sentenced to eight months for a performance supporting Azerbaijani political prisoners. Taherafshar faces six months for his role related to the same event.
Both were initially arrested in December 2023 after Jalili’s performance and charged with “propaganda against the regime” by the Tabriz Revolutionary Court.
An appellate court in April upheld the conviction of Jalili, who had appealed.
Separately, in Tehran the judiciary charged popular entertainer Hossein Pakdel with “insulting” the late Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and former President Ebrahim Raisi over a social media post in which Pakdel criticized political leaders using food metaphors.
The post, which mocked the political elite as being transformed into “rubber steaks” and “special diet cutlets.” The term “cutlet” has gained a subversive edge in Iranian political discourse since Soleimani’s killing by a U.S. drone strike. It is often used to signify obliteration.
Pakdel, who has enjoyed a long career as a presenter for Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and has also managed the Tehran auction, has been outspoken in his criticism of a crackdown on human rights.
The charge is part of a broad campaign of suppression in response to the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests in 2022, where many artists and popular cultural activists were similarly targeted.
Following the helicopter crash on May 29 that killed President Raisi, there has been a wave of arrests of social media users for insulting him. Among those arrested was Reza Babarnejad, the brother of Mehdi Babarnejad, a victim of the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests, who was detained on June 1.
Additionally, on June 4, the Kerman provincial judiciary information center announced that 254 people had been given “telephonic warnings and guidance” by the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guards, and judicial summonses were issued for eight individuals over “insulting” content.
