The six young Iranians who were arrested in May on obscenity charges for posting their own version of the video to Pharrell Williams’ hit song ‘Happy’ have received their sentences: 91 lashes and up to a year in jail.
The sentence has been suspended, provided the six do not re-offend.
The men and women who appear in the ‘Happy we are from Tehran’ video, were detained after it became a viral hit online.
The video, tame by western standards, was accused by the Tehrani chief of police of offending public morals.
It shows three men dancing with three women. The women are wearing trousers and not sporting the mandatory veil required to cover their hair.
At the time of the arrest, R'n'B singer-songwriter Pharrell tweeted a message of support to the group:
It's beyond sad these kids were arrested for trying to spread happiness http://t.co/XV1VAAJeYI
— Pharrell Williams (@Pharrell) May 21, 2014
The Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, appeared to echo Pharrell's sentiment when he tweeted the following message as the scandal broke:
"#Happiness is our people's right. We shouldn't be too hard on behaviors caused by joy." 29/6/2013
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) May 21, 2014
The Associated Press reports that the group were sentenced to six months in jail and the lashes for “ignoring Islamic norms.” One of the six received another six months for alcohol possession, which is also illegal in Iran.
Check out the video that caused all the bother here:
