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Iranian youth behind ‘Happy’ video sentenced

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Published September 19, 2014 2:07pm ET
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Iranian youth behind ‘Happy’ video sentenced
FILE - In this frame grab taken from video posted to YouTube, people dance to Pharrell Williams' hit song "Happy" on a rooftop in Tehran, Iran. A defense lawyer in Iran says six young Iranian men and women videotaped dancing to "Happy" and the video's director have been sentenced to suspended jail terms and lashes. Lawyer Farshid Rofugaran said Friday, Sept. 19, 2014 that the seven have been sentenced to six months in jail and 91 lashes each, though the verdict won't be carried out unless the defendants commit crimes and are found guilty in the future. He says the suspended jail term is the punishment for acting in the video and the lashes are over ignoring Islamic norms.(AP Photo, File) | Uncredited

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Six young Iranian men and women videotaped dancing to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” and the homemade video’s director have been sentenced to suspended jail terms and lashes, their lawyer said Friday.

The Iranians’ case attracted international attention when they were detained in May for participating in a production deemed indecent by hard-liners in Iran. The video showed the men and women, none of whom wore obligatory headscarves, dancing together in sunglasses and silly clothes on Tehran rooftops and alleyways.

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