Spideh Ghoulian's Letter to Mehdi Yarahy: I Saw Your Place in the Hearts of the People

Following the arrest of protest singer Mehdi Yarahy, political activist Spideh Ghoulian wrote a letter to him from Evin Prison: "I wish my voice could cross the bars of Evin Prison and reach your solitary confinement so you know 'In the name of him who is our code name' we remain to reclaim." In this letter, a copy of which was obtained by VOA, Ghoulian addressed Mehdi Yarahy, who is also imprisoned in Evin, saying: "I have lived with your voice, Mehdi Yarahy. You could have stood on the side of power. You could have been an ambassador of the regime and performed colorful shows on European tours to have a colorful table. But you stood somewhere else. You knew there would be a cost, and you became the voice of us in Khuzestan. You knew there would be a cost, and you became the voice of the 'peaceful protests' of Arab women. You became the voice of Sepideh Roshno in the resistance against compulsory hijab, the voice of Tomaj, the voice of workers, prisoners, and all those born of suffering. I have lived with your voice, Mehdi Yarahy." Ghoulian continued in her letter, referring to Yarahy's artistic and social activities in support of the workers of Khuzestan Steel, adding: "I have lived all of Khuzestan, which is my soul, with your voice. During the flood and in Sepidar Prison, we danced with your songs and rose again. I saw your place in the hearts of the people. The same people who have branded you and others like you as separatists for speaking about their sufferings, whether from the prevailing dictatorship or from the defeated dictators. They fear your being one of them, your simplicity and yet your uniqueness and wonder. I have lived with your voice, Mehdi Yarahy." She also mentioned Yarahy's protest songs following the nationwide protests of 2022 with the slogan 'Women, Life, Freedom', writing: "I have tasted life with your voice, Mehdi Yarahy. Many things connected me to you. 'Why stay and reclaim' is something only someone who has had the choice to leave and travel from their homeland can understand, yet has decided to stay and reclaim. I have lived with your voice, Yarahy. I have breathed my homeland, endured exile with your voice, thus I know your great work was not during the peak days of the movement, but in the peak days of repression, in the days of silencing revolutionary voices. When the entire effort of the repressive apparatus was to spread fear and silence, you broke the silence and sang of the life of 'Women, Life, Freedom' to remind everyone that Women, Life, Freedom is not just a moment and a slice of history, but a still-continuing movement. Now the repressive apparatus wants to force you and the voice that has reached the deepest parts of people's hearts into solitary confinement and pressure for forced confessions." Ghoulian concluded by recalling Yarahy's protest against the broadcasting of his works by the Islamic Republic's state television, stating: "It was you who banned the broadcasting of your works on the miserable Islamic Republic's state television due to the airing of the confessions of our dear and heroic Sepideh Roshno, it was you who went on stage in workers' clothes to restore the dignity of the steel worker, it was you who sang against tyranny and expressed your disgust for the misery of war. And I wish my voice could cross the bars of Evin Prison and reach your solitary confinement so you know 'In the name of him who is our code name' we remain to reclaim." At the beginning of September, a new work by Mehdi Yarahy titled 'Take Off Your Scarf' was released on the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death in the custody of the Islamic Republic police, supporting civil disobedience by Iranian women against compulsory hijab, which received widespread reactions. Shortly after the release of this protest work, Iranian officials threatened Yarahy with 'judicial action', although the singer posted a message on his personal account on the X messaging platform (Twitter) using the hashtag 'Mahsa Amini', stating: 'Don't cry, I am the nightmare of this judge.' The Iranian judiciary announced on Tuesday, September 6, the news of Mehdi Yarahy's arrest. Yarahy's arrest has faced negative reactions from many cultural, artistic, and political activists. Spideh Ghoulian, who has been in prison since 2018, was released on March 15, 2023, but immediately after her release, she shouted in front of Evin Prison, 'Khamenei is a tyrant, we will bury you under the ground'; following this action and the publication of the video on social media, security officials arrested this civil activist on her way home and returned her to prison. Ghoulian's trial was held on August 22 in a 'non-public' session. Ghoulian's brother reported that during her trial, she not only refused to wear the compulsory hijab in court but also spat at Ameneh-Sadat Zabihpour, a state media employee known among some opponents of the Islamic Republic as the 'interrogator journalist', 'on behalf of the people.'