Protesters attend a rally against the death sentence of popular Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi and in support of Iranian women, Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Berlin, Germany. Leahy’s death sentence on June 22, 2024, said his lawyer Amir Raisian.
Ibrahim Nowruzi/AP
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Ibrahim Nowruzi/AP
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Iran’s Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence of government critic and popular hip-hop artist Toomaj Salehi. said Saturday.
Raisian posted on the social media platform He added that another branch of the court would now review the case.
Salehi was sentenced to death by a revolutionary court in the central city of Isfahan in April, causing confusion because even Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency and the judiciary did not officially confirm the verdict. Such courts in Iran typically hold closed hearings, with a secretary presenting evidence, and granting those on trial limited rights.
The news quickly drew international criticism from U.S. and U.N. experts, who denounced it as a sign that Tehran continues to crack down on all dissent after years of mass protests.
Salehi was released from prison last November after serving a year in prison. activities related.
Salehi raps about Amini in one video, saying, “Someone’s crime is that her hair dances in the wind.” In another verse, he predicts the downfall of Iran’s theocracy.
Shortly after his release last year, Salehi said in a video that he was tortured after being detained in October 2022 and later imprisoned again. State media released a video at the time showing him blindfolded and apologizing for his remarks, a statement likely made under duress. Later in 2023, a court sentenced Salehi to more than six years in prison.
U.N. investigators say Iran is responsible for Amini’s death and for violently suppressing largely peaceful protests in a months-long security crackdown that left more than 500 people dead and more than 22,000 detained.
