The funeral of Marjan, renowned Iranian singer and actress, was held in California, United States. She passed away on Friday, June 5, at a hospital in Los Angeles. Many Iranians, supporters of the Iranian Resistance and political figures, attended her funeral and commemorated her and her struggle for freedom and democracy in Iran.
The funeral ceremony for #Marjan, a symbol of rebellion against tyranny and misogyny of theocracy ruling Iran has begun. RIP!#Marjan #Iran pic.twitter.com/5VqayoGsEz
— NCRI-U.S. Rep Office (@NCRIUS) June 13, 2020
Marjan’s grave site was encircled with flower ornaments sent from across the globe and adorned with the Lion and Sun flag of Iran.
Shahla Safi Zamir, better known by her stage name Marjan, was born in 1948. She started her career as a radio announcer, then found her way to cinema. She then became one of Iran’s well-known singers.
Following the 1979 anti-monarchic revolution, Marjan, like other female singers was banned from singing by the mullahs’ misogynist regime. Marjan and her husband, well-known Iranian movie director Mr. Freydoon Jourak, were supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK). They were arrested by the Iranian regime in 1982. Marjan was transferred to solitary confinement and the regime did everything to break her resistance. Yet, Marjan resisted and inspired many of her inmates. After being released, she never stopped advocating for a free Iran, therefore, Marjan and her husband were forced to leave Iran and go to the United States.
Once in the U.S., instead of thinking about her personal interests, Marjan and her husband joined the Iranian Resistance. She sang songs for the Iranian people and their Resistance movement and never stopped supporting the MEK, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and NCRI’s president-elect Mrs. Maryam Rajavi. Therefore, Marjan became known as the “inspiring Voice of Iran’s oppressed women”. In other words, she became a symbol of Resistance.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, in her message after Marjan’s death, said: “She rose up against the status quo and attested to this truth that commitment to freedom is all of what every human being has. And in the era of darkness and repression, a popular artist must deliver on this great commitment. I have lost a very dear sister, but I am confident that her sisters in the PMOI/MEK, particularly those who were her cellmates, and the young rebellious women of Iran who will rise up for freedom, will fill her empty place. Marjan’s songs, her choice, and her commitment to freedom and the people of Iran are inspiring to the young people of Iran and particularly to defiant young women. Her voice will resonate in tomorrow’s free Iran.”
Mrs. Rajavi: The Iranian people and God Almighty salute you, the humble singer of Iran’s freedom, for wanting to free Iran and Iran’s art from repression and oppression, for wanting to see Iran’s women free of inequality and oppression. #Marjan #Iran pic.twitter.com/fvXVX0sDFV
— NCRI-U.S. Rep Office (@NCRIUS) June 13, 2020
Her struggle for freedom had a great impact on the Iranian people, and her passing away was widely covered by the western media.
The Washington Post, in an article titled “Marjan, Iranian actress, and singer who became a symbol of rebellion, dies at 71,” wrote: “She rarely presented commercial concerts, preferring to appear at rallies of the NCRI and other dissident groups in the United States and Albania, home to a large community of Iranian exiles.”
Marjan, Iranian actress and singer who became symbol of rebellion, dies at 71 https://t.co/OWEbxqamwn
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 13, 2020
Iranian regime’s reaction
Infuriated by Marjan’s resistance, and how her death affected the Iranian society, even prompting some artists inside Iran to express their condolences and admiration for her, the Iranian regime reacted in its media and said why some people are mourning the MEK singer’s death? Then the regime conducted a campaign of deception to force these artists to take a position against the MEK.
The regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) published a fake journal, just like the MEK’s journal, known as “Mojahed,” and in this fake journal wrote about Marjan’s death along with pictures of 16 athletes and artists, who are living inside Iran, expressing their condolences over Marjan’s death.
By publishing this fake journal, the regime intended to put pressure on those artists to take a position against the MEK. The regime has created this fake journal, while the MEK has stopped publishing a paper journal for years, and all its news and positions are online.
