According to received reports, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, the sentence of 30 lashes against Arman Shadivand—a Kurdish singer and composer from Darreh Shahr in Ilam Province—was carried out at the Enforcement Division of the Darreh Shahr Prosecutor’s Office. He was convicted of “insulting Ebrahim Raisi.”
Previously, on March 17, 2025, Branch 101 of the Second Criminal Court in Dareh Shahr, presided over by Judge Ayoub Alijani, had sentenced Mr. Shadivand to 30 lashes for “insulting the president.” In the same case, he was acquitted of the charge of “insulting the Secretary General of Hezbollah.”
The legal proceedings indicate that the court issued the verdict solely based on security forces’ reports and statements made during interrogation, without presenting sufficient evidence.
In addition to this sentence, Mr. Shadivand has another open case in the Revolutionary Court of Dareh Shahr. In November 2024, he was summoned on charges of “insulting the Supreme Leader” and “propaganda against the regime” and was released on bail after being formally charged. His trial took place on January 19, 2025, in Branch 2 of the Ilam Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Dariush Piri.
Although he appealed the initial verdict, on May 19, 2025, Branch 9 of the Ilam Court of Appeals, presided over by Taleb Dehgonbadi and Ali-Asghar Sharifi, upheld the sentence. According to the final ruling, he was sentenced to 16 months in prison for “insulting the Supreme Leader” and 8 months for “propaganda against the regime.”
Arman Shadivand is among the Kurdish artists who, in recent years, have faced increasing pressure from security and judicial authorities due to their artistic work and critical expression. The enforcement of his flogging sentence and the upholding of his prison term exemplify the systematic repression of dissenting artists and the ongoing restrictions on freedom of expression in Iran.