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Iran:
Rock band tells its story of censorship and imprisonment
The indie-rock band Font were imprisoned in Iran merely for performing their style of music. The band is currently in London on six month artist’ visas.
In August 2007, the members of the rock band Font were thrown into prison for 21 days after police swooped on an underground concert at which they were performing in Karaj, near Tehran.
Now, in a dramatic turn-around in their fortunes, Font have won Britain’s first-ever Immigrant Song Contest, organised and televised by the BBC 2 TV channel’s daily current affairs program Newsnight. Font’s five members entered the contest while living in London on six-month artists’ visas.
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| Related reading on freemuse.org |
| Iran: Music gives hope |
| Austin Dacey's article about the underground music scene and the system of music censorship in Iran, based on an interview with the rock band Kiosk |
| 17 July 2009 |
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| Iran: Musicians respond to the crisis |
| Despite a general ban, rock music has become one of the most vibrant forces for critiquing the various ills of Iranian society, writes music researcher Mark Levine |
| 23 June 2009 |
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| Iran: Rock concert raided, 104 arrested |
| A concert in Shiraz was raided by an Islamist militia, and 104 people arrested, on the grounds of being 'immoral', reported Jam-e Jam newspaper on 27 May 2009 |
| 08 June 2009 |
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| Iran: Rap singer believed to be arrested |
| The alleged arrest of rapper and singer Tataloo is debated in online Persian rap forums. Rumours says that Tataloo has received a three-year jail sentence |
| 21 November 2008 |
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| Iran: Trial against two Kurdish singers |
| Two Kurdish singers are to be sentenced for “propaganda against the [political] order”, reported Shâr News from Saqqez in western Iran on 17 November 2008 |
| 21 November 2008 |
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| Iran: Official campaign against rap music |
| Iranian police have been instructed to close rap studios in an official nationwide campaign to stamp out "obscene" rap music, reported Agence France Presse and BBC News |
| 04 December 2007 |
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