Iran: Lashes for loud music
TEHRAN, Aug 8 (AFP) - The judiciary in the western Iranian province of Hamedan has ordered that anyone caught playing thumping tunes in their cars should be subject to jail terms or lashes, the official news agency IRNA said Sunday.

"Playing any type of music loud in the vehicles is regarded as a crime and violators will be dealt by legal measures," the agency quoted Hamedan province's judiciary as saying in a statement.
"The creation of any noise or racket, or unusual behaviour that disturbs public order and calm are considered crimes which deserve imprisonment from three months to one year with 74 lashes," the statement said.

The playing of loud music, particularly of the pop type, is frowned upon across the Islamic republic and often strictly controlled. But punishments usually amount to no more than a temporary confiscation of a car or a fine.

Western music has also been censored here since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The judiciary in Hamedan is considered particularly hardline. In 2002, a court there sentenced prominent dissident Hashem Aghajari to death for blasphemy after he said Muslims were not "monkeys" and should not "blindly follow" religious leaders. That death sentence has since been quashed by the Supreme Court in Tehran.