Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi (photo credit: ZREMPN/Wikimedia Commons) via TJP
Iranian Rapper Who Took Part In Mahsa Amini Protests, Toomaj Salehi, has been reportedly Sentenced To Death.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Rapper Toomaj Salehi, was arrested in October 2022 amid nationwide protests against the regime.
“Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi – who was arrested during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests that swept Iran in 2022 – was sentenced to death,” Salehi’s lawyer, Amir Raesian, told the Shargh newspaper on Wednesday.
Salehi was prosecuted on charges of corruption on earth, a charge reportedly used often by the regime in Iran to target activists.
The rapper was arrested in October 2022 amid nationwide protests against the regime. At the time, the Iranian Fars News Agency referred to Salehi as “one of the leaders of the riots.” Fars claimed that Salehi was trying to flee the country when he was arrested.
He was sentenced in July to six years and three months in prison but was released on bail after the Iranian Supreme Court found “flaws” in the original sentence. He was then rearrested in December after publishing a video saying he was tortured while detained.
Raesian stated that there were several “inconsistencies” in the new verdict and that he intends to file an appeal. He added that the court in Isfahan that sentenced Salehi referred to the Supreme Court’s decision as “advice.”
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In October, Salegi received the 2023 Freedom of Expression Arts Award from the Index on Censorship organization.
Ye-One Rhie, a member of the German Bundestag, condemned the sentence on Wednesday, writing on X “The level of the sentence is absurd and inhumane. This sentence has no basis in the rule of law and is therefore completely unacceptable.”
“It is still completely unclear how this verdict came about. It is unbelievable how irresponsibly and arbitrarily the Iranian regime treats defendants. It is impossible to recognize the rule of law in the chaos of the courts in charge,” said Rhie, calling for the immediate release of Salehi.
Helmut Brandstätter, a member of the Austrian National Council who has sponsored Salehi, expressed outrage at the decision, noting that he will “continue to push for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be placed on the terrorism list” and for Foreign Minister Schallenberg to protest the sentence to Iran’s ambassador in Austria. Brandstätter called for people around the world to show support for Salehi and other political prisoners.
The Center for Human Rights in Iran condemned the sentencing as well, stressing that it “underscores the glaring unlawfulness and injustice of the Islamic Republic’s judicial system, which has been weaponized and used as a tool by the state security forces to crush dissent and perpetuate political repression.”
“Not only was Toomaj imprisoned for participating in a peaceful protest, but now a lower court, acting as a willful instrument of the state’s security apparatus, has unlawfully sentenced him to death, disregarding the supreme court’s decision to overturn the initial verdict of a prison sentence,” said the Center’s Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi.
“This grotesque manipulation of the judicial process aims to silence dissent,” added Ghaemi. “Toomaj’s imprisonment stems from his vocal advocacy against state oppression. It is imperative that supporters of free speech and dissent unite to demand his immediate release.” – TJP
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