An Iranian court has sentenced to death the famous Iranian rapper Toumaj Salehi, who has been imprisoned for more than a year and a half, due to his support for the protest movement that broke out in 2022, after the death of Mahsa Amini, according to the Iranian daily Shargh.
The newspaper quoted Amir Raisian, the singer’s lawyer, as saying: “The Isfahan Revolutionary Court… sentenced Tomad Salehi to death on charges of corruption on earth,” which is one of the most serious charges in Iran.
The Revolutionary Court accused Salehi of “incitement to sedition, assembly, conspiracy, propaganda against the regime, and calling for riots,” according to the lawyer.
The Judicial Authority’s Media Department confirmed on Thursday that the accused has the right to request a reduction in the sentence due to his “expression of remorse and cooperation with the authorities.”
Salehi has 20 days to appeal the ruling before the Supreme Court. The Judicial Authority Media Department stated that if the sentence is upheld, the Judicial Authority’s Pardon Committee will review his case and may reduce the sentence.
In 2023, the Iranian Supreme Court rejected the accusations against me of “spreading corruption on earth,” a crime punishable by death in Iranian laws. However, the court’s decision was not implemented, which Salehi’s lawyer described as an “unprecedented measure” by the judiciary.
The hashtag #Free_Tomaj spread on social media platforms such as “X”, and its users demanded his immediate release.
Iranian rapper Toumaj Salehi
The 33-year-old rapper was arrested in October 2022. Through his songs and on social media, Salehi supported the protest movement, which broke out following the death of the young Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, days after she was arrested by the morality police in Tehran for not adhering to the dress code.
Foreign artists then offered their support to Saleh, expressing their fear that he would be sentenced to death.
On November 2, the official Iranian News Agency (IRNA) published a video recording, according to what it reported, showing Salehi blindfolded, admitting that he “made a mistake,” in confessions that activists said were “extracted by force.”
Before his arrest, the singer criticized the authorities in statements he made to the Canadian network CBC. He said: “You are dealing with a gang that is prepared to kill an entire nation (…) in order to retain its power, money and weapons.”
The “Article 19” human rights group expressed on Twitter earlier, its “deep alarm at the Iranian government media’s publication of confessions by anti-government rapper Tomaj Salehi, considering that he “made them under clear duress.”
Hundreds of people were killed, including members of the security forces, and thousands were arrested during the protests in October and November 2022 in Iran, before their intensity subsided.
Iran executed nine people convicted of supporting the protests, according to NGOs.
