Iran arrests 200+ concert-goers
jaimejeske
Sat Aug 4, 2007 12:58PM EDT
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian police detained more than 200 people and
seized alcohol and drugs in a raid on a "satanic" underground rock
concert, media in the conservative Islamic state reported on Saturday.
Iran, which has launched an annual summer crackdown on "immoral
behavior", bans alcohol, narcotics and parties with unrelated men and
women dancing, drinking and mixing. Western popular music is frowned
upon.
The police operation took place on Wednesday night in the town of Karaj
near the capital Tehran, at an event with local disc jockeys, rock and
rap groups performing, the media said.
"Most of those arrested are wealthy young people ... who came to this
party with the goal of attending a provocative, satanic concert," daily
Tehran-e Emrouz quoted a senior police official, Reza Zarei, as saying.
Karaj's public prosecutor, Ali Farhadi, said invitations had been sent
out via the Internet and that people from Britain and Sweden were among
those held. Zarei suggested they were expatriate Iranians visiting the
country.
Farhadi said 150 bottles of alcoholic drinks, 800 "obscene" CDs and
different kinds of drugs had been confiscated by police, as well as
"inappropriate" dresses that those behind the event were giving to
female guests as gifts.
"Some 230 people who attended a rock party in Karaj were identified and
arrested," Farhadi said on the Web site of Iran's state broadcaster.
He said 20 video cameras had also been seized and that the organizers
had planned to blackmail girls after filming "inappropriate and obscene"
videos of them.
Under sharia, Islamic law, imposed after Iran's 1979 revolution, women
are obliged to cover their hair and wear long, loose clothing to
disguise their figures and protect their modesty. Violators can receive
lashes, fines or imprisonment.
Jaime