Restarting the Iran ping. On or off ping list.
Posted on 08/04/2007 5:21:41 PM PDT by freedom44
Iranian police arrested 230 people in a raid on an underground rock concert close to Tehran, amid a growing crackdown on behaviour deemed contrary to Islamic law.
Large quantities of recording equipment, alcohol, bootleg CDs, revealing female clothing and drugs were seized at the concert in the city of Karaj just west of the capital, in Tehran province.
"Two hundred and thirty people were identified and arrested in a 'rock party' in the Mohammadshahr district of Karaj," Ali Farhadi, the prosecutor for Karaj, said, according to the website of state broadcasting.
"An investigation is in progress and soon a verdict will be issued for the main elements of the satan-worshipping instigators and all these people will be punished."
He said that people from Britain and Sweden were among those arrested, without giving further details.
Rock groups in Iran are only allowed to perform with a licence from the ministry of culture, although this has not prevented numbers of underground formations sprouting up in recent years.
Iran is currently in the midst of one of its tightest moral crackdowns in years, which has already seen thousands of women warned by the police for dressing that is deemed to be un-Islamic.
Women must cover their heads and all bodily contours in Iran while the consumption of alcohol and mixed-sex parties are strictly illegal.
Police have recently also been targeting men whose dress is deemed "satanic" or overly Westernised.
Over 110 of the participants in the "rock party" have been transferred to the local Rajaieshahr prison while the others are in custody at the judiciary after being allowed bail, Mr Farhadi said.
He said that the young participants in the concert, mostly from well-off backgrounds, had responded to an invitation published on the Internet.
"Special cards had been distributed to the participants so they could gain entry. Nobody could enter without a such a permit."
Revolution begins with the young.
Isn’t living in an Islamic totalitarian repressive dictatorship wonderful ???
True and are they gonna have fun with rock music. Long live Rock and Roll and Elvis.
Chaos ensued when the band played “You Dropped The Bomb On Me”...
I know it’s only rock and roll, but I like it.
Those mullahs sure know how to make friends with the young.
The Islamic revolution just keeps sealing it’s death warrant.
Sigh...depressing Iran is more fun than my apartment on a Saturday night...
Mine too, join the club.
Rock the casbah, baby!
How do you seize it without "seizing" the female wearing it??
What do they do, carry portable Sharia changing rooms with uni-size burqas??
May they find a way to throw off the oppression of the fanatics and find a path to peace, freedom, and liberty.
[cue Pennywise-”F*** Authority”]
Sounds like Iran really SUCKS.
> How do you seize it without "seizing" the female wearing it?? What do they do, carry portable Sharia changing rooms with uni-size burqas??
They probably wish they could...
I'm guessing the concert had vendors of forbidden items. Who knows, a Grateful Dead show parking lot scene, with Western clothing instead of tie-dyes and macrame?
I hear Ozzy Osbourne was there and bit the head off of a camel.
It's not like we don't have a surplus of Western items that the current Iranian government finds objectionable, but their kids want.
Except that of course, the anti-rock-n-roll, anti-drug, anti-freedom folks of our OWN government will kill any such idea... They'd rather fund a worthless War on Drugs in Iran, and help the RIAA sue kids who download Western rock tracks.
Rock on, amigos.
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