Iranian Rapper Sentenced to Death Following Arrest Over Controversial Songs: Report

Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi is sentenced to death for supporting protests over the death of a woman in police custody following her arrest in 2022.

Iranian news outlet Shargh Daily confirmed the development during an interview with Salehi's lawyer, Amir Raesian.

After the Islamic Republic Revolution Court of Isfahan made the sentence, Raesian said this contradicted the previous Supreme Court ruling that qualified his client for amnesty.

Toomaj Salehi Sentenced to Death

The lawyer claimed the revolutionary court's decision had "obvious legal conflicts," leading him to criticize the ruling.

"The primary court sentenced Toomaj Salehi to the harshest punishment, death, on the charge of 'corruption on Earth,'" said Raesian. "We will definitely appeal this sentence."

According to CBC, Salehi was arrested for the first time in October 2022 due to the public statements he made to support the nationwide protests following the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, for allegedly wearing an improper hijab.

He was arrested again in 2023, two weeks after being released on bail.

At the time, a Supreme Court ruling prevented a death sentence and gave him six years and three months in prison instead.

Salehi and his lawyer have 20 days to appeal the sentence to the Supreme Court.

According to the judiciary media department, if the sentence is upheld, the judiciary's amnesty commission will review his case.

#FreeToomaj Trends on X

On X, social media users showed their support for Salehi and slammed the revolutionary court's sentence.

One wrote, "Dear world, I am Iranian, and Toomaj Salehi, the Iranian rapper sentenced to death by the Islamic regime, is the bravest and most honorable human I have ever known! And I am not even into rap. His crime is saying 'emperor has no clothes'! The moral outrage is real!"

"Can we get a campaign going to compile videos by American rappers saying #FreeToomaj and that nobody should be killed for Hip Hop music? Is there anyone who can facilitate this?" a second added.
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Before Toomaj's death sentence, he posted a video during which he spoke bluntly about the torture he reportedly experienced at the hands of authorities since his 2022 arrest.

"I was tortured severely at the time of the arrest. They broke my hands and legs. They beat me a lot in my face and head. I tried to stop the punches with my hands, so my fingers broke ... and it was over a very lengthy period," Toomaj said in the video.