In 2022, Iranian authorities arrested 33-year-old local rapper Toomaj Salehi for allegedly supporting national protests. He’s accused of having co-signed demonstrations on behalf Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in police custody. It is widely speculated that Amini was allegedly killed by authorities for opposing the country’s mandatory hijab laws. It’s also rumored that her family was pressured into claiming her death was a result of the flu. Salehi was previously arrested for allegedly promoting “propaganda against the regime” and “insulting the supreme leadership authority” in September of 2021.
Salehi has now received his sentence, leaving his supporters outraged. He was sentenced to death, according a Tweet posted by his lawyer Amir Raesian earlier this week. “The primary court sentenced Toomaj Salehi to the harshest punishment, death, on the charge of ‘corruption on Earth,’” Raesian said of the ruling. Reportedly, the rapper’s legal team plans to appeal the court’s decision. This means that his sentence could potentially be reduced by a pardoning committee, per state media.
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Toomaj Salehi Charged With “Corruption On Earth”
After his 2022 arrest, Salehi was freed briefly the following year. He was then arrested again and sent to prison in Isfahan, according to witnesses. In a statement, UN experts said he was rearrested after authorities saw a video of him alleging that he was tortured in custody and held in solitary confinement for 252 days following his first arrest.
“We strongly condemn Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence and the five-year sentence for Kurdish-Iranian rapper Saman Yasin. We call for their immediate release,” the United States’ Office of the Special Envoy for Iran Tweeted of the ruling earlier this week. “These are the latest examples of the regime’s brutal abuse of its own citizens, disregard for human rights, and fear of the democratic change the Iranian people seek.” What do you think of Toomaj Salehi being sentenced to death for supporting national protests in Iran? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.
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