Jailed Iranian Journalists Join Khatereh Hakimi in Singing

In a powerful act of defiance, Iranian singer Khatereh Hakimi has shared a video of herself singing “Safarnak,” accompanied by three women journalists imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin prison.

The video, which was posted on social media, shows Hakimi playing the guitar and singing. The journalists Nasim Sultanbeigi, Elahe Mohammadi and Niloofar Hamedi can also be heard singing over the phone. 

🎞️ In a powerful act of defiance, Iranian singer Khatereh Hakimi has shared a video of herself singing “Safarnak,” accompanied by three women journalists imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin prison. The video, which was posted on social media, shows Hakimi playing the guitar and singing.… pic.twitter.com/JNl4xcg2zR

— IranWire (@IranWireEnglish) December 19, 2023

The recording is interrupted by a brief automated message saying, “This is a phone call from Evin Prison.”

Sultanbeigi, Mohammadi and Hamedi and among dozens of journalists unlawfully jailed during nationwide protests sparked by the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody. 

Mohammadi and Hamedi were handed prison sentences totalling 12 and 13 years in prison, respectively, for their coverage of Amini's death. 

Sultanbeigi is serving a prison sentence of three years and seven months.