Toomaj Salehi an Iranian rapper was sentenced to death, following his involvement in a massive protests that swept through Iran in 2022, his lawyer has revealed.
On Wednesday, Salehi’s lawyer tweeted, “Toomaj Salehi’s execution order has been issued.”
The rapper was reportedly tortured after being arrested, jailed, and kept in solitary confinement.
Iranian pro-reform sites Shargh and Entekhab report that on Tuesday, an Isfahan court overturned the ruling of the higher Supreme Court in Saleh’s case, upholding the first finding of “corruption on earth” and imposing the death penalty as the ultimate punishment. This is an extraordinary action.
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According to state media, if Salehi files an appeal once again, a pardoning committee may reduce his sentence.
Salehi, 32, was briefly released from jail last year before police brutally arrested him again and brought him to a prison in Isfahan, according to witnesses at the time. Salehi has been vocally critical of the Iranian system and outspoken against the government in rap songs and on social media.
According to pro-reform news outlet IranWire, another musician, Kurdish-Iranian rapper Saman Yasin, who was also detained during the height of Iran’s protests in 2022, was twice moved to a mental health facility in less than a year.
Yasin was given a five-year prison sentence by a Tehran court, as reported by Hengaw, a human rights organization that advocates for Kurdish rights.
As stated by UN experts in a statement released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), he was detained again after making an appearance in a video in which he disclosed that, after being arrested in October 2022, he had been subjected to torture and held in solitary confinement for 252 days.
Following Mahsa Amini’s death, 22, which transpired under dubious circumstances while in police custody, protests spread across the nation. The Iranian authorities launched a vicious crackdown on the weeks-long protests.
“We vehemently denounce the execution of Toomaj Salehi and the five-year sentence imposed on Kurdish-Iranian musician Saman Yasin. The Office of the Special Envoy for Iran in the United States tweeted, “We demand their immediate release.” “These are the most recent instances of the regime’s heinous mistreatment of its own people, contempt for human rights, and fear of the democratic transformation that the Iranian people long for.”
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In addition to calling for Salehi’s release, UN experts asked Iranian authorities to overturn the death penalty.
“We are concerned about the execution penalty and the purported mistreatment of Mr. Salehi, which seems to be connected exclusively to the utilization of his freedom of artistic expression and innovation,” the specialists stated.
German Member of Parliament Ye-One Rhie, who has been Salehi’s political backer in Europe, referred to Salehi’s death sentence as “absurd and inhumane.”
She tweeted on Wednesday, “How this verdict came about is still completely unclear.” “The Iranian regime treats defendants in an unconscionable and arbitrary manner. Given the disarray of the ruling courts, it is difficult to respect the rule of law.
