Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi given death sentence for protest support

Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi received a death sentence on April 23rd. In his music and on social media, he supported protests against the regime of the ayatollahs.

Dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi was sentenced to death for participating in widespread protests that swept through Iran in 2022. The verdict was announced on the X platform by the artist's lawyer, Amir Raesian. He wrote: "An execution order for Toomaj Salehi has been issued".

The 32-year-old rapper expressed support on social media and through his songs for the protests ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. The 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman died after being detained by the "morality police" and taken to a "re-education centre," allegedly for not properly wearing the hijab to cover her hair. Her death sparked a series of demonstrations across the country.

Toomaj Salehi, who was critical of the Iranian regime and openly criticised the government in his rap lyrics and on social media, was briefly released from prison in 2023, before police violently re-arrested him and sent him to a prison in Isfahan. In recordings before this arrest, he spoke about being held in solitary confinement and tortured during his initial imprisonment.

In an unprecedented move, the court in Isfahan on April 22nd overturned the Supreme Court's decision regarding Salehi's case, upholding the original verdict of "corruption on Earth" and issued the maximum penalty - sentencing to death. The verdict was reported by Iranian pro-reform media "Shargh" and "Entekhab". State media reported that Salehi's sentence might be reduced by a pardon committee if he reapplies for appeal.

Salehi's "political guardian" in Europe, German parliamentarian Ye-One Rhie, called the death sentence "absurd and inhumane". "It is still not clear how this verdict was issued," wrote on Wednesday on Twitter. "It is incredible how irresponsibly and arbitrarily the Iranian regime treats the accused. It is impossible to recognize the rule of law in the chaos prevailing in the courts".

Source: cnn.com