Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013

Iran arrests 5 musicians over dissident contacts

By The Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian police have arrested five members of an underground band suspected of producing music for Farsi-speaking, dissident satellite channels based in the U.S.

The semiofficial Fars news agency quotes senior police official Col. Sadeq Rezadoost as saying the band was producing songs for Los Angeles-based Iranian singers and providing videos to Farsi-speaking, dissident TV channels.

The Wednesday report says the five have been handed over to the judiciary for trial. It did not name the band.

Women-only groups are banned in Iran, and Western music is rejected as "decadent." Many Iranians turn to underground bands to get bootleg videos of foreign-based singers.

Contact with foreign-based dissident media outfits is also banned in Iran.

2013-01-09 20:41:51 GMT

Copyright 2013. The Associated Press All Rights Reserved.
The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
Ads by FindLaw

Legal News