Rapper Toomaj Salehi sentenced to death amid Iran's protest crackdown

Toomaj Salehi, the dissident rapper, received a death sentence for his involvement in the 2022 protests that swept through Iran. The announcement of his sentence on the X platform by his lawyer, Amir Raesian, states: "An execution order for Toomaj Salehi has been issued."

The 32-year-old artist supported the protest movement triggered by Mahsa Amini's death in 2022 through social media and his music. Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, died following her detainment by the "morality police" for allegedly improper wearing of the hijab. Her death ignited protests nationwide.

Having criticized the Iranian regime and condemned the government in his lyrics and on social media, Salehi was briefly freed in 2023, only to be brutally re-arrested and imprisoned in Isfahan. Before his last arrest, he recounted experiences of solitary confinement and torture during his initial imprisonment in recordings.

On April 22nd, in an unusual move, the court in Isfahan dismissed the Supreme Court's decision on Salehi's case, confirming the initial "corruption on earth" verdict and sentencing him to death, as reported by the Iranian pro-reform media outlets "Shargh" and "Entekhab." State media have noted that a pardon committee could reduce Salehi's sentence if he seeks an appeal.

German parliamentarian Ye-One Rhie, acting as Salehi's "political guardian" in Europe, denounced the death sentence as "absurd and inhumane," expressing disbelief on Twitter on Wednesday about how the verdict could have been rendered. Rhie criticized the Iranian legal system's chaotic and arbitrary nature, questioning the presence of juridical logic in it.

Source: cnn.com