Protesting Rappers Vafa Ahmadpour and Daniel Moghaddam Sentenced to Imprisonment, Travel Ban, and Social Media Restrictions

Vafa Ahmadpour and Daniel Moghaddam, protesting rappers, were each sentenced by the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz to one year in prison, a two-year travel ban, and a two-year prohibition on social media activities. According to the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, "Hrana", the prison sentence for these two young rappers will be executed with electronic ankle bracelets outside of prison. Thus, Vafa Ahmadpour and Daniel Moghaddam will have to serve their prison terms while moving within a specified radius from their residence. The first branch of the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz found these two protesting rappers guilty of "propaganda against the regime". The court session regarding the charges against Vafa Ahmadpour and Daniel Moghaddam was held on August 7. Daniel Moghaddam, along with Vafa Ahmadpour, known as "Vafadar", was arrested on May 9 by government forces in Shiraz and transferred to the Shiraz Intelligence Department detention center known as Plaque 100. After a short period, they were moved to the central detention center of this city located in "Adelabad" prison. Daniel Moghaddam was released from this prison on August 7 after posting bail. Vafa Ahmadpour is currently serving a one-year prison sentence from a previous case in Adelabad prison in Shiraz. He had been sentenced to one year in prison by the Revolutionary Court for "propaganda against the regime". Daniel Moghaddam and Vafa Ahmadpour, protesting rap artists, were arrested after performing a song called "Amadeh Bash" in Shiraz. Just hours before their arrest, Daniel Moghaddam reported on his Instagram page about the raid by agents at his home, stating: "They came. People, they came to the house. Vafa and I are together." These two protesting singers criticize the Islamic Republic and the country's crises and the problems of the Iranian people in the song "Amadeh Bash", which was filmed at the ancient site of Persepolis. Nasir Mashkouri, a music expert and author of the book "The Hip-Hop Generation", commented on this song to Voice of America, saying: "The era of requests and demands in Iranian protest music is over. Today, in resistance music, specifically in the recent song by Daniel and Vafadar, we are hearing about unity, system change, and readiness for a revolutionary struggle against the system." He adds: "In the recent rap song by Daniel Moghaddam and Vafadar, we hear a rap written about the readiness of an exploding society against a corrupt and undemocratic regime for change. In fact, it speaks of revolution, not merely social protest." Nasir Mashkouri discusses the violent repression of the Islamic Republic and the arrest and imprisonment of these rappers, stating: "Perhaps this repression will yield results for a short period, but the more repression and censorship there is, the more desperate individuals will take the microphone, and this movement will continue." He refers to the death sentence issued for Tomaj Salehi, saying: "Did this sentence stop Daniel and Vafadar? On the contrary, it encouraged them. I think this issue should be viewed from a social perspective. Did the repression of the Mahsa movement prevent the next uprising? In fact, the actions of Daniel and Vafadar proved that, no, we will soon witness another uprising." Vafa Ahmadpour's account: This imprisoned rapper has developed diabetes "under psychological pressure". Daniel Moghaddam, the protesting rapper, was temporarily released on a 5 billion tomans bail. Vafa Ahmadpour, the imprisoned protesting rapper, defended himself against political charges. Vafa Ahmadpour and Daniel Moghaddam were transferred from the Shiraz Intelligence detention center to Adelabad prison. Protests against the arrest of Daniel Moghaddam and Vafa Ahmadpour; Nasir Mashkouri: We are witnessing the emergence of a new type of "resistance music" in Iran.